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Just when the U.S. Route 20-Pioneer Mountain to Eddyville project seemed to be back on track, another multimillion-dollar problem reared its ugly head.

New difficulties related to landslides have led the Oregon Department of Transportation to declare that $176 million more is needed to finish the project. The addition would increase the total cost to $400 million 鈥� $260 million more than originally expected and $100 million more than ODOT estimated just two months ago.

ODOT this week will present to the Oregon Transportation Commission five possible actions 鈥� two would greatly reduce the scope of the project and one would stop it from moving forward entirely.

鈥淥nce (the highway administrator) realized the (amount) of the funding necessary to complete the project, he wanted to make sure the commission members had a perspective of other options,鈥� said Rick Little, ODOT public information officer. 鈥淚n other words, he didn’t just want to (say), 鈥楬ere, fund this.’ 鈥�

The history of the project, which calls for replacing a curvy, 10-mile segment of U.S. Route 20 between Corvallis and Newport with a straighter, 5.5-mile road, is full of years of delays, disagreements and disappointments.

In 2005, ODOT awarded $140 million to Yaquina River Constructors, a subsidiary of California-based . Then numerous landslides were discovered at critical sections, and work was put on hold for almost a year.

When construction resumed in 2008, ODOT estimated that the revised project would cost $177 million; it was the first of multiple cost increases for the project.

Earlier this year, after discovering that two of the project’s bridges were off plumb, ODOT issued a notice of default to YRC and Granite. The agency claimed that the companies failed to uphold their end of the project’s design-build contract, which eventually was terminated.

Shortly thereafter, a new general contractor, Scarsella Brothers Inc. of Kent, Wash., was hired to complete phase one 鈥� including demolition of four partially-built bridges.

ODOT upped the price to $300 million and extended the completion date to 2015. At the time, officials believed the problems experienced by Granite could be mitigated by simply adjusting the alignment of the roadway.

鈥淏y moving the road alignment to avoid the active landslide activity, you reduce the effect of that activity,鈥� Little said two months ago. 鈥淭he only reason it will take us to 2015 to complete is we’re working with a very short construction season in an area that gets more than 70 inches of rain.鈥�

ODOT originally thought that earth movement issues were limited to four drainage sites. However, after adding instrumentation to monitor the sites, officials discovered that movement also was occurring on many of the cut slopes, which were created to make way for the roadway.

鈥�(The slopes) will need to be stabilized as well,鈥� Little said. 鈥淲e thought we were only dealing with movement on those certain locations.鈥�

About half of the new 5.5-mile highway has been built. Additional paving, environmental mitigation and roadside development remain.

ODOT is still refining the five actions that will be presented to the OTC, so their exact details aren’t known. However, two options are expected to involve widening or straightening the 10-mile stretch of highway rather than building the second half of the 5.5-mile stretch.

Two other options, preferred by ODOT, would involve designating additional money from the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to cover additional costs so that the project could finish as planned.

Another option would end the project altogether, according to Little.

If the project were to end abruptly, surrounding communities would be disappointed.

鈥淚t would be a big letdown if it didn’t end up happening,鈥� said Michelle Amberg, city manager for Toledo.

When Granite and ODOT ended their contract, Granite company officials stated that the design solution that ODOT and Scarsella Brothers Inc. were planning to implement was much simpler than theirs.

鈥淧roject design is a very complex process that involves a number of stakeholders,鈥� said Jacque Fourchy, a spokeswoman for Granite. 鈥淭he design solution that ODOT intended to use was not originally available to us.鈥�

Granite would not comment on whether the company foresaw the problems that ODOT is now experiencing.

ODOT will present the five possible actions to the OTC in Salem on Wednesday. If funding were approved for the project, it would be expected to finish in 2016.