A tanker truck carrying gasoline and diesel crashed Wednesday on Highway 38 near Drain. The cleanup is expected to take up to a week.

People planning to drive to the Oregon Coast this weekend using Highway 38 — the route used to go from the Roseburg area to Winchester Bay, may want to consider a different route.

The ongoing cleanup of a fuel tanker spill along Highway 38, about six miles west of Drain, will slow traffic for at least a week, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.

ODOT advised people traveling to and from the coast to use alternate routes, especially over the weekend.

A tanker carrying gasoline and diesel crashed near milepost 45 shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday. DEQ is leading the cleanup and estimates that 1,247 gallons of diesel and 771 gallons of gasoline spilled in the crash.

Flaggers are directing traffic 24 hours a day in one lane until cleanup and road reconstruction are completed on the westbound side of the highway. It will take at least a week to remove and rebuild the affected roadway surface and adjacent ditch, ODOT said in a news advisory.

Motorists can expect delays of up to 20 minutes. 

Western Hyway Oil, the transportation arm of Portland-based WSCO Petroleum, owns and operates the tanker. Western Hyway Oil has hired a contractor to clean up the spill under the advisement of DEQ.

For updates on the cleanup, see the DEQ blog at ordeq.org/hwy38spill-June-7-2023.