Citizens check out couplet options

Couplet plans call for relieving Cascade Avenue.

The couplet question is not if; it is how. This statement quieted initial resistance to a one-way couplet in Sisters at the second public hearing, held at Sisters Elementary School on Tuesday, August 31.

According to Eileen Stein, City Manager, the Oregon Highway Plan calls for specific steps to consider regarding major highway improvements. All initial steps must be exhausted before the next level of priority can be addressed, i.e., a couplet must be thoroughly investigated before a bypass can be considered.

The 1999 Oregon Highway Plan, Major Improvements Policy, directs "ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) and local jurisdictions to do everything possible to protect and improve the efficiency of the highway system before adding new highway facilities." The document goes on to list the priorities for developing corridor plans, transportation system plans, etc. to respond to highway needs.

"Plans must document the findings which support using lower priority measures before higher priority measures," the plan states. Those priorities, in order highest to lowest, are:

1. Protect the existing system. Preserve the functionality of the existing highway system through access management, local comprehensive plans, improved traffic operations, alternative modes of transportation, and similar actions.

2. Improve efficiency and capacity of existing highway facilities. Make minor improvements to existing highways -- wider shoulders, improved access for alternative modes (bike lanes, sidewalks, etc.), and other off-system improvements.

3. Add capacity to the existing system. Major improvements to existing highway facilities -- add general purpose lanes, make alignment corrections to accommodate legal size vehicles.

4. Add new facilities to the system. Lowest priority -- add new facilities such as a new highway or bypass.

The couplet falls under Item 3, a bypass under Item 4.

Braving an intense thundershower that flooded downtown Sisters, about 40 people attended the public meeting. Matt Hastie of Cogan Owen Cogan, design consultants of the couplet plan, Howard Stein, from CTS Engineers, and Eileen Stein, City Manager, presented the current plan and responded to questions and comments.

The Sisters Couplet Refinement Plan (Preliminary Draft), 54 pages covering all aspects of the couplet planning, was made available to those in attendance.

The plan presented at this meeting has been referred to as the "pressure relief valve," referring to the fact that Cascade Avenue is still the primary street and will retain the state highway designation but Hood and Main avenues will bleed part of the traffic off to alleviate peak traffic congestion on Cascade Avenue.

The primary plan features are:

• Cascade Avenue will remain a two-way street and retain the state highway designation.

• At the much-discussed intersection of Highway 20 and Locust Street, westbound traffic will have the option of continuing onto Cascade or turning right onto Locust northbound, then onto Main westbound. Main Avenue will be one-way westbound only and will extend through Forest Service property to connect with Highway 20 near the Three Wind Shopping Center.

• Eastbound traffic will have the option of continuing on Cascade Avenue or, near the Three Wind Shopping Center, exit onto Hood Avenue, which will extend across Highway 242 then parallel Cascade on it's present route, feeding back onto Highway 20 west of Locust Street.

Under this plan, designers expect that 30 percent of the through-town traffic will divert to Main or Hood avenues, the balance to stay on Cascade Avenue. This plan presents multiple advantages, but the big disadvantage, according to designers, remains the congested end-point intersections, especially Locust/Highway 20.

A question arose about the practicality of southbound traffic on Locust Street having to stop at Main Avenue, then crossing through traffic, before proceeding south toward Highway 20. It was also pointed out that a recent directive from ODOT blocks traffic from exiting on Cascade Avenue from the new city hall/library site onto Locust Street.

But the overwhelming objection from the audience was the nature of traffic flow on Hood Avenue. Discussion kept coming back to the westbound access to Highway 242 from south of Hood Avenue. It was pointed out that any attempt to accomplish this maneuver would involve crossing town to Main or Cascade, accessing Highway 20, then reversing on Hood to Highway 242 or using McKinney Butte Road to reach Highway 242 on one of the access streets around Sisters High School.

One solution offered by the designers is a two-way, north-south connection between Hood Avenue and Highway 242 near the present location of Les Schwab Taylor Tire.

Objections arose because of the increased traffic expected on the local streets of Pine Village to access that connector street.

Another question arose as to where the connection would be located, since the property adjacent and to the west of Les Schwab is currently under development.

Brad Boyd, owner of Eurosports, summed up the feelings of many in the audience: "Everything south of Hood is sacrificed for a 20-30 percent traffic diversion. The couplet cost is too high for the locals."

Another complication in the process is the fact that Highway 20 is a federal freight route, which includes another set of design criteria, such as turn radii large enough to handle longer trucks. This is critical at the Locust Street/Highway 20 intersection and will affect the location of the new city hall at Locust and Main.

The next step in the process is for the CAC to meet, refine and finalize the plan. The final Couplet Refinement Plan will be presented to the Sisters City Council, which will identify options to pursue and consider other alternatives along with further public input.

Then, if the couplet project is accepted by ODOT, the earliest funding would be available in fiscal year 2010/2011.