The Oregon Department of Transportation is preparing to abandon an attempt to build an overpass on U.S. Highway 97 in La Pine, after having spent $12.4 million of the $17 million allocated for the project.

The Wickiup Junction project would have rerouted the highway to the east and over the BNSF Railway line, eliminating the last remaining at-grade rail crossing along U.S. Highway 97 between Washington and California. Instead, rapidly sinking soils have led project managers to conclude the overpass cannot be completed safely, and should be scrapped.