News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show has turned downtown Sisters into the country's largest outdoor folk art gallery for two decades. This summer, it will also transform a section of state Highway 20 into a quarter-mile pedestrian mall.
With help from the Oregon Department of Transportation, the city of Sisters and the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Quilt Show organizers have developed a traffic plan that will close Cascade Avenue/Highway 20 between Pine Street on the west and Locust Street on the east.
Through traffic will be rerouted along Barclay Drive through Sisters Industrial Park.
Quilt Show Executive Director Ann Richardson said she was astounded at the level of cooperation the various agencies showed in putting the plan together.
"It's been an amazingly positive process in terms of getting something done," she said.
Richardson singled out ODOT as being particularly helpful and accommodating. She said she had understood that ODOT would be very resistant to closing Highway 20. That turned out not to be the case.
"It was pretty much ODOT's suggestion that we do that," she said.
The Quilt Show put forward the new traffic plan in an effort to "make the show pleasant for people who want to be here - and for people who don't want to be here."
Travelers passing through Sisters on Quilt Show day risk being caught in a miserable traffic jam - and crossing Cascade Avenue/Highway 20 is nearly impossible.
Richardson said the Quilt Show organizers wanted to be sensitive to that problem.
"If people don't want to be here, the last thing we want to do is to give them a bad taste in their mouth about Sisters," she said.
Closing the highway will also enhance pedestrian safety.
The sheriff's office will play a critical role - with the Quilt Show footing the bill for extra manpower.
"It's going to take a lot of manpower," Richardson said. "We're going to have deputies at both ends of town. There will be flaggers for cross-traffic."
All the north-south streets will remain open, allowing traffic for the show to filter into the downtown area. A deputy will direct traffic at the Locust Street intersection, and flaggers will guide traffic flow.
Parking has become an issue for the show as well. Richardson said that Sisters High School has been proposed as an RV parking area. The civic campus at the east end of town will open its lot for handicapped parking - the first time the Quilt Show has been able to offer such accommodations.
Richardson said that she is announcing the plan now so that the Sisters community can weigh in.
"We definitely want to know what people think of it," she said. "We want to know if anyone has serious issues."
Richardson will be at the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Office at the corner of Main Avenue and Spruce Street on Thursday, March 1, from 8 to 10 a.m. and again from 5 to 6 p.m. with maps depicting the traffic plan. The public is encouraged to visit so that Richardson can explain the plan in detail.
Those interested may contact Richardson at 549-0989 or e-mail her at [email protected]
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.
Reader Comments(0)