No more carfree McKenzie Pass as ODOT tightens closure policy

Bike riding through snow on McKenzie Pass Hwy. (2011 Photo by Oregon Department of Transportation).

The State of Oregon has rolled up their welcome mat when it comes to cycling on McKenzie Pass during it’s annual winter closure.

In the past, the closure of this epic highway (OR 242) that’s considered to be one of the best rides in Oregon, was considered an open invitation to bicycle riders to enjoy it carfree. The closure is done each year by the Oregon Department of Transportation at the start of the winter storm season in order to save maintenance costs (it’s considered a secondary highway, so isn’t essential for travel). As word has spread, a growing number of riders seize the opportunity each year in late spring as snow melts. They ride up and over the pass thanks to ODOT crews who plow a narrow path through the massive snowfall — and it all happens before the “road closed” gates open back up for drivers.

But according to the Salem Statesman Journal, ODOT wants to tamp down on this cycling tradition. “Over the past few years, the Oregon Department of Transportation quietly decided that once the highway is closed to cars, it’s closed to everyone else as well,” reads a story published Sunday. The story also says ODOT has liability concerns and is partly motivated by an allegedly large number of close calls between bike riders and maintenance crews during a paving project this past summer.

Now cycling and snowmobiling groups in nearby Sisters, Oregon are shocked and they’ve mounted a campaign to encourage ODOT to reconsider. A Change.org petition to, “Keep McKenzie Pass Highway 242 open for winter recreation,” has gathered nearly 900 signatures in just two days.

When I saw the Statesman Journal article, it struck a nerve. Back in March I found myself on the McKenzie Pass website and noticed language about how the road was “closed to everyone.” That seemed like a big change from when ODOT promoted the route as a carfree cycling opportunity, so I emailed ODOT Region 4 Public Information Officer Kacey Davey and asked to explain whether or not the policy had changed.

“There has been no policy change, as there was never a policy saying that the road was open to just bikes. It was public perception,” Davey shared in an email last spring. “In recent years we have been stronger about our language letting folks know that closed areas are closed to everyone,” she added.  

But ODOT is partly to blame for that perception. In 2019, their press release announcing the closure stated, “This is the annual closure of the highway to motorized vehicles… Non-motorized users, including hikers and bicyclists, access the area at their own risk when it is closed to motorized vehicles.” And in 2018, ODOT officials made it clear they expected bicycle riders on the highway. After a fire damaged the highway and crews were on hand to make repairs, an ODOT press release said warning signs about the project would be removed on weekends (emphasis mine), “to indicate that visiting is permitted. However visitors, including cyclists and pedestrians,” read the statement, “must be aware that ODOT is not maintaining the highway for wheeled travel at this time…”

It’s easy to see why folks are confused about the shift in tone around the closure. ODOT won’t communicate an outright cycling ban because they don’t have the enforcement capabilities to back it up. So for now, they’re strongly encouraging folks to not ride during the winter closure and making it clear that anyone who goes past the gates is, “doing so at their own risk.”

For more information and updates, see ODOT’s McKenzie Pass Hwy page.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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Chris I
Chris I
1 month ago

Keep using it. What are they going to do?

Jeff S
Jeff S
1 month ago

and making it clear that anyone who goes past the gates is, “doing so at their own risk.”

Well I have no problem with that, I would assume that’s always been the case. But if ODoT intends to start busting riders, I would indeed take umbrage.

EEE
EEE
1 month ago
Reply to  Jeff S

Maintenance crew extends chain across road to pull against object they are trying to clear. No flags, no warnings, other than the usual generic flags they use. It’s a closed area after all. Tiffany Q. Spandex’s descent picks up, she does not see the barely visible chain and suddenly impacts and takes flight, resulting in massive injuries. Spandex pulled down close to seven figures as a Bend MD. She was pregnant but lost it in the crash and is now a quadriplegic. The damages and costs associated with the crash are obscene. ODOT is definitely named in the lawsuit. I don’t think anyone should care about fines and such, it’s damages.

Jeff S
Jeff S
1 month ago
Reply to  EEE

Is this speculative, or actual?

Chris I
Chris I
1 month ago
Reply to  Jeff S

He’s spun quite the yarn here.

Lazy Spinner
Lazy Spinner
1 month ago
Reply to  Chris I

Yes, he has. The point that he makes is valid in a very litigious society. If someone gets hurt or killed, then ODOT is going to get sued and the settlement/legal defense is a burden on taxpayers. Closing it to all users and announcing it absolves the state from liability if some trespassing rider decks it on a descent, slams into a work crew, or has a medical incident and dies in a cell phone dead zone.

TA
TA
1 month ago

It’s always been at one’s own risk though, isn’t it? I rode it Memorial Sunday afternoon and was almost alone. It was not lost on me that if I flatted or got hurt, I would have a very long walk down the hill back to McKenzie Bridge. There’s no cell service and the gates are locked.

Bob Simmons
Bob Simmons
1 month ago

Why wouldn’t you link to the petition itself instead of the Change homepage?
The link is https://www.change.org/p/keep-mckenzie-pass-highway-242-open-for-winter-recreation

1kWatt
1kWatt
1 month ago

Thanks alot for covering this Johnathon. Petition signed.

Chris
Chris
1 month ago

Do they even have the ability to close it to non motorized travel? The land is public access. They could try and ticket the bikes but good luck with that.

Jeff S
Jeff S
1 month ago

IIRC, ODoT once upon a time sent out notices of when the pass was clear for bikes but still not open to cars…does anyone else recall this? I want to say it was about 15 years ago or so they stopped doing this.

Mark Detrick - PBC
Mark Detrick - PBC
1 month ago

So, they are implying that paving projects will occur every year? Are they not using signage, even when the road is closed, so that cyclists can use caution? It appears that a decision to close a road to cyclists involves incompetence and/or negligence, plus is Oregon demonstrating cycling unfriendliness. And, Oregon cannot afford cycling unfriendliness.

Michael Mann
Michael Mann
1 month ago

I’m sympathetic to ODOT’s position on this. I think they’re doing what they have to do to cover themselves and protect their employees. I’ve ridden McKenzie Pass several times either alone or with one other person. The pre-car access ride has become more popular and attracts bigger groups recently. Clearing the pass is a major job for ODOT, and I can imagine there are plenty of close calls and work delays caused by cyclists.
That said, I’ll probably still try to ride the pass before it’s open to cars. But I won’t advertise it or invite others, and I’ll be hyper-vigilant regarding whether I’m impacting ODOT workers just trying to do their job.

Emma
Emma
1 month ago

The way I see it there could be a win-win solution: ODOT enforces AND communicates full closure when they are doing road work. Then after the work is done the highway stays closed for cars another 2-3 weeks so non-motorists can do their world-famous thing, then it is fully opened. I don’t see why we can’t do it that way? Emergency response could get access to the gates so if there’s a bike crash they can get in. The few weeks that motorists lose access can’t possibly be that important. There shouldn’t be any liability concerns in this scenario. If folks go in during ODOT work when the closure was properly communicated on the web and on the ground, then I could see them writing tickets or whatever consequences are warranted.

I really don’t see why ending this world-class riding experience is necessary. It attracts tourist money to Sisters and the McKenzie corridor, it leaves the forest quiet and the people more wholesome. It allows an experience that could strengthen just a few of our ragged strands of social fabric. Or maybe it’s not that profound, but it sure feels like it to me every time I bike the pass.

bArbaroo
bArbaroo
1 month ago

So off topic, but the road has also been the location of the John Craig Memorial Ski Race, a tradition that has been around for many years…I wonder, will XC skiers be allowed on the road?

Michael Mann
Michael Mann
1 month ago
Reply to  bArbaroo

That’s addressed in the referenced Statesman Journal article.