MYRTLE CREEK (AP) - The Oregon Department of Transportation hopes to finally eliminate the Myrtle Creek curves, considered one of the most dangerous sections of Interstate 5.

The agency plans to bypass the curves by cutting a chunk out of the adjacent rock mountain; boring through the rock to create a tunnel is another option.

"That's huge," Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson said of the proposed $40 million project. "Everyone has recognized for a long time that the curves are dangerous."

In the last six years, more than 40 accidents with at least $1,000 damage have been reported at the curves, located at Milepost 108. Dozens more have likely happened without being reported.

"It's one that has been on our to-do list for a long time," said Paul Mather, manager of the ODOT Southwestern Oregon regional headquarters in Roseburg.

ODOT is set to receive $7 million to replace a bridge just north of the curves on the southbound side. Mather wants to take that money and look for another $33 million in state and federal highway money dedicated to improvements along routes important for hauling freight.

When trucks crash along the curves, it takes an average of about six hours to clear the wreckage and reopen the road. Traffic backs up for miles, with only one alternate route through Tri City and Myrtle Creek. Mather estimated the economic loss at $250 million in lost time, wages and delayed freight delivery, along with the cost of emergency service providers.

"There are truck drivers trying to get to mills in Riddle, drivers trying to get home from work, people just passing through," Mather said.

Most of the people who get into trouble on the curves are from out of the area, said Chuck Ireland, the owner of Ireland Trucking in Myrtle Creek.

"They just don't realize the severity of the curves," said Ireland, who also serves on the Southwest Area Commission on Transportation, a multicounty group that provides recommendations to the Oregon Transportation Commission.

Several decades ago, a similar curve existed next to Mount Nebo in Roseburg. The highway department was later able to reduce the bend in the road and make it safer. He hopes the same thing can be done for Myrtle Creek.

If so, Bill Leming wouldn't miss the long hours he puts in at the curves every time there's a wreck.

"I have spent a lot of cold nights out there," said Leming, chief of the Myrtle Creek Volunteer Fire Department.

"I used to worry about my firemen being safe in burning houses. Now, I'm more worried about them out on the freeway."