Landslide takes out part of Oregon Highway 42

PORTLAND (AP) -- Those planning to drive to Coos Bay, Coquille or Bandon from the Grants Pass area have an extra-long drive ahead of them because of a landslide on Oregon 42 at the border of Coos and Douglas counties.

The slide has covered most of the two-lane state highway with mud and rock, and there is no estimate on when it will reopen, said Jared Castle of the Oregon Department of Transportation in Roseburg.

"At least until next week," Castle said. "It's too early to know. This is the nature of Southern Oregon. We battle slides all the time."

Castle said the Oregon Department of Transportation closed the road about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, when workers at the site noticed trees cracking and the ground moving above where Panther Creek Road runs. The slide happened a half-hour later.

It's 200 or 300 feet long, and at least 30 feet high.