News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Drivers on Highway 20 west of Sisters will have a little more freedom of movement by the middle of next summer.
Engineers with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) are putting the finishing touches on the design of westbound and eastbound passing lanes between Tollgate and Graham Corral Road west of Sisters (Milepost 95.8 and Milepost 97.47).
According to ODOT spokesperson Heidi Hiaasen, there will also be a left turn refuge for westbound traffic turn-ing onto Cold Springs Cutoff.
“The contract will go out in the spring and hopefully construction will begin in the summer,” she said.
The project budget is $2.8 million.
Hiaasen said the project was triggered by a finding that “because of opposing volumes of traffic, drivers often can’t pass out there when it’s legal to do so.”
The project will require widening of Highway 20 on each side to add the two new lanes.
Hiaasen said she did not know how many trees might have to be removed to accommodate the lanes. The U.S. Forest Service will handle the contract for tree removal, she said.
ODOT is also finishing up an analysis of a “two-way couplet” requested by the City of Sisters, according to City Manager Eileen Stein. The couplet would have a configuration similar to a previously-approved one-way couplet using Hood and Main avenues, but it would continue to allow two-way traffic.
The city decided to explore this option after citizens and new councilors expressed misgivings about the one-way couplet design crafted by a citizens committee.
The city asked ODOT to study whether the “two-way couplet” would have any actual effect in reducing traffic pressure on Cascade Avenue. The ODOT study will be reviewed by an independent consultant hired by the city.
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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