News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
As dozens of volunteers wrap downtown Sisters in quilts for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday, July 12, organizers will be preparing for a major transportation operation.
Cascade Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic between Pine and Larch streets from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., turning the downtown corridor into a pedestrian mall.
Flaggers will divert through-traffic around Sisters on Barclay Drive through the Sisters Industrial Park. Eastbound through-traffic will be sent left onto Barclay Drive from Highway 20. However, drivers will be able to access the Three Wind Shopping Center or other points in Sisters by vehicle.
"We're going to keep traffic moving through the 'bypass,' but you can go any direction you want at that point on the highway (Barclay Drive intersection)," said quilt show executive director Ann Richardson.
Westbound through-traffic will be sent down Locust Street to Barclay Drive and on through the industrial park to get through town.
Westbound quilt show traffic from Bend will be diverted left on Jefferson Avenue to filter into the south side of town for parking. Traffic from Redmond will be sent down Locust Street to find parking on the north side of Sisters.
The Sisters High School parking lot will be available for parking with volunteer-driven shuttles running at regular intervals.
According to Richardson, there will be flaggers out to direct traffic and "signs everywhere - thousands of dollars worth of signs."
GFP Enterprises, a local contract firefighting company, is providing flaggers.
Richardson noted that on-street parking in city right-of-way is free. Some residents attempt to charge for parking in the right-of-way in front of their homes, but that is illegal. Richardson also emphasized that quilt show attendees must be careful not to block driveways.
This is the second year that the quilt show has closed Cascade Avenue. It takes significant coordination between the show, the sheriff's office and the Oregon Department of Transportation to make the closure work.
"ODOT deserves positive kudos for this, because they are very easy to work with," Richardson said.
In addition to managing a complex transportation program, the quilt show is this year launching a major effort to encourage attendees to cut down on bottled water consumption.
The show is encouraging visitors to "Bring Your Own Bottle" or to purchase a Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show bottle.
Richardson said she hopes at best to break even. She said the motive behind the campaign is to cut down on the vast amount of plastic that is left behind in trash cans and recycling bins at the end of the show.
Several business in town will be established as "water stations" where visitors can refill their bottles, whether they are their own or the quilt show's.
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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