Wrestling with transportation plan

Transportation planning is a long and winding road

The recent accident at the intersection of Highway 20 and Barclay Drive has angered and frustrated many people within the Sisters community.

In letters and comments they wonder why nothing has been done to "fix" the intersection, if it is going to take a death to bring action.

Creating a Transportation System Plan (TSP) has taken years in Sisters, with no clear consensus on how best to increase safety, enhance traffic flow, and lower the collective blood pressure during the peak tourist months. A new round of planning is currently underway.

Back in 2001, as the city was on the verge of a growth surge, the first TSP was prepared by David Evans & Associates. This study, funded by an ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) Transportation Growth Management Grant, relied on the findings of a committee comprised of citizens, council members, and representatives from ODOT.

This was also the time that the city's new sewer system was being developed, so many issues dealing with looming growth were before the City Council.

Although the city had a Comprehensive Plan in place, a higher priority was placed on developing the city's Development Code, which provided day-to-day guidance on proposed building plans. The city was about to start growing quickly and staff and council wanted to be ready.

The 2001 TSP addressed the same issues that the 2007/2008 plan is addressing today. The goals included creating "pressure relief" in the present road system by linking roads and creating more ways to get around the city without relying on Highway 20.

The committee also studied bypasses around the city. As with the present study, two "close-in" bypasses, one north and one south of town were considered, and then dropped for cost reasons. At the time a "bypass improvement" was estimated to cost about $17 million, including environmental analysis, right-of-way acquisition and construction costs.

In contrast, the study's recommended solution was a "couplet improvement" costing approximately $2 million.

This solution had ODOT's support, the agency feeling this might be a viable long-term solution for Sisters. But the couplet never happened.

ODOT essentially told the city that Sisters had an "idea" for transportation changes, but not a "plan" that could be placed in the regional budget for evaluation and consideration.

There were a couple of positive outcomes from the 2001 TSP. The extension of Barclay Drive to Highway 20 and the extension of Jefferson Street east to Hwy. 20 are examples of "pressure relief" for Cascade Avenue, providing alternative routes for locals to avoid the heavily traveled roads.

In 2002 Eileen Stein became the City Manager and began pushing the idea of the couplet with ODOT and the city. Eileen heard ODOT's claim about Sisters having good "ideas" but no "plans" clearly.

"ODOT said we needed to put in place a 'refinement plan' for the TSP's couplet idea. So the TSP plan evolved into the Couplet Refinement Plan (CRP) during 2003-2004," said Stein.

This involved another committee, including some members from the original TSP committee, who would spend the next two years evaluating various couplet configurations. Funding for this study was provided by a Forest Service Community Assistance Grant.

The final CRP plan revolved around a Hood Avenue/Main Avenue couplet, with ODOT acquiring these roads as highways, and Cascade Avenue becoming a city-owned street.

Estimated cost of couplet improvements were $5 million and ODOT would be paying the bulk of the costs, designating Hood/Main as the new Highway 20.

But this was not meant to be, either. The CRP was never fully adopted by the City Council. Council member turnover, combined with shifting political winds doomed the plan.

And then ODOT rejected the CRP plan, feeling that it would create an unsafe situation as drivers entered Sisters. ODOT felt the option to turn right, to access the couplet, would compete with a driver's natural instinct to want to continue straight on Cascade, thus creating an unsafe situation.

This meant that if Sisters wanted to create the couplet it would have to be entirely funded by city dollars. Cascade would remain a state highway. The CRP was dead.

"I realized, in one of the Area Commission on Transportation meetings I attended, that Sisters is not competing for transportation funding with Bend and Redmond. We're competing with Crook County, who felt it was their time for transportation funding," said Eileen.

The Area Commissions on Transportation were created in the 1990s as a way for the federal government to decentralize funding. In Sisters' case, when federal dollars come into ODOT's coffers, a regional commission comprised of representatives from each Central Oregon county, city, forest service, ODOT, BLM, Tribes, and others decide where to spend the money.

"Most people don't understand how long transportation funding takes in Oregon. The decisions are highly political, competitive, and the process is long term," said Stein.

By late 2005/2006 the couplet issue bubbled to the surface again. Funding was budgeted for a new TSP planning process, this time paid for through the city's finances, and a committee was once again formed to study the options. The committee started meeting in late 2007. Bypasses around the city, as well as couplet options, are being reviewed by the committee with the help of a consulting engineering firm.