Council rejects ODOT passing lane

The Sisters City Council, like many of the citizens it represents, doesn't want the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to build a passing lane just west of town.

On Thursday night, the council passed a resolution with a 4-1 vote to oppose the project. However, it does not appear that the resolution will have much effect.

ODOT Region 4 Director Bob Bryant told The Nugget after the council meeting that the project will go forward.

ODOT plans to build a westbound passing lane between Cascade Meadow Ranch and the Cold Springs cutoff. The project originally included an eastbound lane, which ODOT dropped in the face of community opposition. However, ODOT officials have said the agency will eventually build that eastbound lane.

Councilor Brad Boyd led the attack on the project, using an analysis of ODOT's own accident data to question the safety concerns ODOT says make the project necessary.

"I would assert that your five-year crash data refutes that argument," Boyd said.

In fact, Boyd argued, "I would assert that you're going to make the roads less safe" by encouraging drivers to speed up on snow and ice on a lightly-plowed center lane and by increasing the possibility of collisions with deer.

Boyd's analysis, which Bryant said he did not dispute, indicates that most accidents are attributable to snow and ice on the roads, and only a very small percentage could be tied to passing.

Bryant responded, "We recognize certainly that passing lanes (are) not going to do anything to address other safety considerations in the corridor - snow and ice being one of them and wildlife conflicts being another."

However, Bryant insisted, traffic volume continues to increase, and ODOT considers the construction of passing lanes "a proactive approach" which will make the roadway safer.

"This is really a simple solution that we've deployed in these conditions all over the region," he said.

The argument swayed councilor Lon Kellstrom, who cast the lone vote against the council's resolution.

Kellstrom argued that the agency's "primary directive" is the "safe flow of traffic at highway speeds" and that enforcement alone isn't an answer to increasing traffic volumes and speeding and passing drivers.

Boyd told the council he plans to forward the resolution to state officials, including the governor, in an effort to induce Bryant to change his mind and drop the project.

After the meeting, Bryant told The Nugget that, with the project being 2.5 miles outside the city, the resolution "doesn't carry the impact it would" if it addressed a project inside the city limits.

He expects the the project to go out for bid soon.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

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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