No rezone until Sisters has a traffic plan

Sisters has to solve its growing traffic problems before approving new development.

Two residential developments are in the works that will add to the already tangled traffic at the corner of Locust Street and Cascade Avenue. Now applications are before a Deschutes County Hearings Officer to add two parcels to the city and rezone them for light industrial use (see story, page 1).

Adding industrial parks before the City of Sisters knows how it plans to deal with the traffic the developments will generate would be irresponsible.

Sisters does not have a Transportation System Plan. This work should have been done long ago. Until we have that plan, there is no comprehensive strategy for dealing with the traffic generated by growth.

The severe problems at Locust (Camp Polk)/Cascade and Pine/Cascade intersections need to be solved before any more traffic is added to the crush.

The demand may be great for more industrial land in Sisters, but new development has to wait until a real traffic plan is in place.

J.C.