Roundabouts are best for Sisters

We have done a lot of big things here in Sisters over the past 30 years: We built a beautiful new library, moved city hall (do you remember the old one!), and built a new high school - twice. But nothing we do will impact the look, feel, and safety of our community like the intersection improvements to Highway 20 at Barclay and Locust. And those intersections are about to change, with Barclay happening soon.

A couple of years ago the city formed a group to provide input into a new transportation plan (TSP) for the city. I was a member of that group; we had countless meetings and looked at all possible scenarios for moving traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians around and through our town. ODOT sat in on those meetings where we discussed how a roundabout might be the best solution for Sisters. At the time ODOT was in favor of considering these as an alternative to traffic lights. The research that the TSP group did pointed us in the direction of preferring a roundabout as the best and safest way to move traffic through these intersections.

Now, however, ODOT has decided to halt the use of roundabouts because of pressure from the freight industry. Some of the freight lobby's supporters even wrote to The Nugget calling Sisters residents "bizarre" and "deranged" for suggesting that traffic lights were not a good solution. So despite all of the work we did coming up with the BEST solution for all - local residents, tourists, and those just passing through town - we now may be forced to accept traffic lights with five or six lanes of pavement at the entry to our community.

There is no study, evidence, or research to support ODOT's change of position - just pressure from a lobbyist. The evidence clearly shows that roundabouts can handle truck traffic, even on state highways as they have been used in Oregon, California, Arizona, Kansas, Maine, and Maryland to name a few states. We all know that roundabouts have proven to be very successful and popular in Bend, and there are hundreds of them in Europe and Australia.

Extensive research on roundabouts shows that they are in fact SAFER than traffic signals. The intersection of Barclay and Highway 20 has been the scene of accidents before, and even with a traffic light it will have them. Some will be at high speed, and because of its location near the high school, could involve one of our sons or daughters on their way to/from school. A roundabout with speeds of 15-20 mph will save us from these tragedies. Studies show that fatalities are reduced by more than 90 percent when an intersection uses a roundabout instead of a signal. Aren't we all in favor of reducing deaths on our streets?

A roundabout will also slow all traffic entering town so we will no longer have 50-mph cars flying into our pedestrian-friendly town. By placing one at the east end of town we could also slow traffic to 20 mph in front of our elementary school, too. How many times have we all seen cars going speeding past the school?

The Sisters Vision Statement calls for an "authentic village atmosphere" and the "protection of the town character." Roundabouts, with the ability to place local art in the center, meet this objective while traffic lights come up short. If you agree that a signal will change the character of our community adversely, then please come to the public meeting on November 16 and tell ODOT we have a solution for traffic in Sisters - and it isn't a signal! If you can't make the meeting, call City Hall and tell them we want a roundabout at Highway 20 and Barclay. Your children will thank you one day.