News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Residents will get a chance in January to air their opinions about a traffic signal in Sisters.
The Sisters Community Action Team proposed a signal at the intersection of Camp Polk Road and Locust Street with Highway 20 to promote safety and make it easier to get onto the highway.
The Oregon Department of Transportation acknowledged that a signal is warranted there and may allocate funds for the project early next year.
The agency asked the Sisters City Council for its support before moving forward; the council decided to hold a public hearing in January before making a decision.
Since funds won't be allocated until a Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs hearing in February, Mayor Steve Wilson said the city does not need to rush a judgment about whether it is in favor of a signal.
"It's a pretty big decision for a small town to get its first traffic signal," Wilson said.
According to ODOT's Steve Wilson (no relation to the mayor), a traffic signal could help traffic on Camp Polk Road and Locust Street, but it could make traffic congestion on the highway worse.
"It'll probably improve their level of service (cars on Camp Polk Road) and degrade that level of service on the highway somewhat," Wilson told the council.
"It can reduce the flow 15, 20, 30 percent at times."
Wilson acknowledged that a signal "will back traffic up. Sometimes during the summer the traffic is backed up anyway," he said.
According to ODOT's "Salem to Bend Corridor" draft study dated September, 1998, ODOT rates level of service on an A-F scale, with "A" being free-flowing traffic and "F" being bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic.
The study shows Sisters' level of service, taken from a 1997 traffic count at the west end of town, at level "D." The level of service is projected to slide to level "E" by 2017 without additional traffic lanes.
When asked whether ODOT would approve a signal if it brought the level of service on the highway down to "E" or "F," Wilson said the agency would probably not go ahead with an installation.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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