Interstate travel through Southern Oregon declines, says ODOT

MEDFORD, Ore.– *UPDATE* — Road travel on highways and the interstate across the region are down considerably.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, traffic on I-5 is down nearly 40 percent. The state says that’s a good sign as it means people are following stay at home orders.

With fewer people driving, the Rogue Valley might be seeing less pollution as well.

“Traffic numbers on a daily basis have been reduced significantly because of the public health emergency and I guess as a correlation to that you could say that air pollution from motor vehicles is reduced as well,” said Gary Leaming, ODOT.

ODOT says less traffic has been nice for crews out working on the roads. The department says they’re not stopping any projects because of the slowdown due to coronavirus. Instead, they’re continuing with currently planned projects for updates and renovations that have been set in place.