City council receives couplet plan

Many locals don't want a couplet at all and there is still some disagreement as to how one should be implemented, but the Sisters City Council now has a couplet plan to review.

The council got a review of a couplet at its Thursday, November 17, worskshop meeting.

Matt Hastie of Cogan Owen Cogan, design consultants for the couplet plan, presented the results of eight meetings of the Couplet Advisory Committee, three ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) meetings, other ODOT input, two public meetings and innumerable rewrites. The official result is known as the Sisters Couplet Refinement Plan.

The process identified three key issues: Current and growing congestion during peak summer days, requirements to meet state mobility standards, and impacts on quality of life for residents and visitors.

Solutions considered were: widening Cascade Avenue; a traditional couplet; and a bypass. The widening of Cascade was rejected because of the restrictions on pedestrian orientation. A bypass was not considered cost effective and ODOT requires consideration of a couplet first.

Eileen Stein, City Manager, had earlier stated that the Oregon Highway Plan calls for the consideration of specific steps 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 and local jurisdictions to do everything possible to protect and improve the efficiency of the highway system before adding new highway facilities."

The Refinement Plan design considers the couplet as a "pressure relief valve." It proposes to lessen traffic impact on Cascade and provides options for people traveling through town.

It is anticipated that 30 percent of peak seasonal traffic will divert to the couplet streets of Main Avenue (westbound) and Hood Avenue (eastbound).

The plan allows for eastbound traffic to divert onto Hood Avenue near the Three Wind Shopping Center, then follow Hood south across Highway 242 then eastward to rejoin Cascade just west of the Highway 20/Locust intersection.

Traffic would be two-way on Hood from Highway 20 to Pine, allowing relatively direct access from the south side of Sisters to Highway 20 and the schools. Traffic would be one-way eastbound on the rest of Hood and would narrow from two lanes to one lane at the east end.

The westbound route would allow traffic to divert north on Locust (two-way) from Highway 20/126, then west one-way on Main Avenue. Main would rejoin Highway 20 through what is now the Forest Service headquarters.

Cascade Avenue would remain two-way and retain the State Route designation. Traffic diversion onto Hood and/or Main Avenues would be strictly voluntary.

Two areas of concern remain: Access to the west side (Highway 242, middle and high schools, many churches) and traffic control at the Locust/Highway 20 intersection.

Establishing two-way traffic on Hood between Pine and Highway 20 was the latest "refinement" added to this plan. Although this does create the desired access, some members of the council question whether this will overload the residential streets south of Hood.

All traffic in both directions will flow through the Locust/Highway 20 intersection. Councilors question whether the design presented will maintain traffic flow through that intersection. The plan calls for a signal at the Locust/Highway 20 intersection sometime in the future.

Parking recommendations include: Retaining diagonal parking on both sides of Hood and Main Avenues, studying the need for off-street parking, providing clear directional signage for parking areas, designating specific areas for RV parking and using underutilized large lots, e.g., schools, for big-event parking.

Signage recommendations include: A series of signs to guide drivers, temporary signage in predictable and visible locations and improved pedestrian signs. However, the plan seeks to avoid "over-signage" of the community.

The plan calls for other street improvements to be consistent with the Urban Renewal Plan and to build on Sisters' strengths and existing design themes.

A primary goal is to improve the pedestrian environment.

The plan states that the majority of public input did not support a couplet at all, but the least objectionable alternative was the "pressure relief valve" as presented above.

The most significant issues were the impact on local access within Sisters and concerns about safety and increased traffic on Locust Street and Hood and Main Avenues.

Immediate questions from city council members included concerns about the engineering of the Locust Street/ Highway 20 intersection, a desire for more information on a possible bypass and the impact of maintaining two-way traffic on Hood and Main Avenues.

The city council will review the options and provide direction, then, probably in January, consider adoption of the Couplet Refinement Plan and related Transportation System Plan (TSP) amendments.

Under the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), the earliest funding for couplet improvements would be available in the 2010/2011 fiscal year.