Major street project starts Monday

Work is about to get started on the East Cascade/Highway 20 realignment project. Contractor Knife River from Bend will start the project with work on East Cascade on Monday, August 18.

That work is expected to be completed by Thursday, September 11. East Cascade will be closed to traffic while work is in progress, traffic to be rerouted through Cedar Street.

The work along Highway 20 and Larch Street will start on Tuesday, September 2, and is expected to be completed by Friday, September 26. Paving, landscaping, striping and signage is estimated to be completed by Thursday, October 8.

All the work is in the public right-of-way.

The $233,000 project is designed to bring East Cascade Avenue into Highway 20 at a 90 degree angle instead of the oblique, westward-facing angle of the original intersection.

"It's T-ing it up, but in doing so, you move it quite a bit to the west," said Public Works Director Brad Grimm.

The project is being funded through City of Sisters Urban Renewal District Funds. (See sidebar, page 27.)

The project was originally estimated to cost $450,000. The city saved a considerable amount of money by changing its drainage control design.

"We were going to be boring under the highway in several locations," Grimm told The Nugget. "The boring alone was $230,000."

Instead, the city's public works crew created drainage systems on both sides of the highway, saving those costs. The city also has a slowing construction industry to thank for the lowered cost.

"The bidding environment is a lot more competitive this year," Grimm said.

The project will also include pedestrian bulbs on the four corners of Larch Street and a new crosswalk.

For more information contact the Public Works Department at 541-323-5220.

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.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
• Phone: 5415499941