Just before 6 a.m., a jack-knifed truck blocked all lanes of southbound freeway traffic at Charbonneau, according to ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson. The truck driver was able to pull out of the slide and the call was cleared within one minute.

At 6:02 a.m. another truck jack-knifed on the Boone Bridge. Thompson said he didn’t have details as to how long the lanes were blocked, but the accident cleared at 6:33 a.m.

“It’s likely that the highway was mostly closed,” he said. “It’s very hard to get around a big semi like that.”

At 6:42 a.m., ODOT closed the Boone Bridge to southbound traffic because of weather conditions and ice. Thompson said it was snowing at the time. Crews brought sand and chemical de-icer and applied it to the road.

“We usually close the road to do that, so we don’t have cars going by us while we’re doing it,” he said. “It just complicates things and it’s not safe.”

ODOT opened the road again at 7:15 a.m., and traffic quickly cleared, said Thompson.

With this weekend’s storm approaching, ODOT recommends drivers be prepared.

“What I’ve heard is that this is the biggest storm of the last 4-5 years,” he said. “In Portland, the snow will start early Saturday in the south near Wilsonville, and over the next 24 hours dump 4-10 inches of snow, followed by freezing rain on top of it. That’s a major wake-up call. People have to pay attention this weekend.”

The driving public, he cautioned, should stay in touch with weather and road conditions by looking at www.tripcheck.com, calling 5-1-1, and hearing reports on TV and radio.

“If it comes as predicted, it could be very, very bad,” Thompson said. “It’s too soon to know how it could affect the Monday morning commute, but it’s likely to be icy.”

ODOT is well-prepared, he said, with more than 100 plows and de-icing trucks, 120 maintenance workers working around the clock. Plows and trucks are located both north and south of Wilsonville, ready to work on the Boone Bridge, which can get especially icy.