News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Efforts to install a traffic light installed at the intersection of Highway 20 and Camp Polk/Locust Street have come to a stop - at least for a couple of years.
The City of Sisters will not try to get a light included in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), according to Mayor Steve Wilson. A final regional hearing on the statewide plan is set for Thursday, February 18, in Bend.
An Oregon Department of Transportation study shows that there is enough traffic at the intersection to warrant a signal, but that doesn't mean the agency will put a signal there.
Even if Sisters requested that a signal be included in the STIP, it would be competing with other projects which, according to ODOT, would probably have higher priority.
"We can't just put up a signal because people in the community want one," said ODOT spokesperson Laurie Gould.
"That particular intersection hasn't been an accident problem, it's not what we identify as a choke point where traffic is slowed down significantly, so it's not going to rise to the level of priority of some other intersections (in the region)."
Gould said there are six safety-related projects included for Central Oregon in the STIP. There are another 77 "modernization projects" proposed in the plan, nine of which will be selected for action in 2000-2003.
The city does plan to craft its own transportation system plan. That plan may call for a signal at the Highway 20/Locust Street intersection.
"If we have (a signal) on our transportation plan, there's a need for it, and it's a documented need," said city administrator Barbara Warren.
Mayor Wilson thinks that the city may actually need more than one light to enable local traffic to readily maneuver around town.
"I firmly believe that when the transportation system plan comes out, it's going to show that - for the best interests of the residents - three lights may be required - at Locust at Elm and at Pine," Wilson told The Nugget.
However, Wilson said, any plans for a signal are "on hold until a transportation study is done." He said that could take up to two years, and acquiring funds and making plans for the actual signal will take still longer.
The traffic signal was originally proposed by members of the Sisters Community Action Team who were concerned about safety. Though subsequent meetings about the signal focused increasingly on traffic flow, safety concerns will remain.
"All we can do to address the safety issues is to work with the school district to focus attention on that intersection, whether it's crosswalk guards or more presence of the sheriff's deputies," Wilson said.
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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