Plans underway to manage Cascade construction impacts

"Businesses are excited about the Cascade Avenue streetscape project ... and they are scared to death," says Mike Darling, ODOT Project Leader for the Highway 20-Cascade Avenue improvement project, "...and we hear that loud and clear."

Darling and other members of the ODOT project team met with the city council in a workshop last Thursday to discuss the latest schedule and design considerations for the $6 million Cascade Avenue project, now due to begin construction in January 2014.

ODOT and city staff shared the results of their outreach to the community, specifically focusing on the business community's input on the staging of the project. At the last ODOT/council workshop in February the slected option involved a phased shutdown of Cascade Avenue in sections during construction.

Based on more recent input from business owners, ODOT has modified the approach to a full shutdown of Cascade Avenue for the briefest time possible - a "get in and get out" approach favored by the business owners.

"What we heard from business owners actually suggested is that this place is pretty quiet after New Year's. There is an opportunity to look at closing Cascade Avenue starting at the beginning of January and opening before Memorial Day. We are seriously looking at that as a viable option," Darling said.

To hedge their bets against the weather, and to get a jump on the January 2014 shut down, ODOT will be looking to do some of the underground and utilities work in the fall of 2013 without closing Cascade Avenue.

Also based on downtown business feedback, Darling said, "We will attempt to route all freight traffic to a Barclay-Locust route for the duration of the project. The idea is to keep motorized vehicles using Main and Hood to keep as much traffic as possible in the downtown corridor."

"Signage is also very important," said Darling. "How do we alert motorists on Hood and Main that there are still businesses and they are still open on Cascade Avenue?"

The need to keep at least two north-south cross streets open at all times was also noted as a key requirement.

Jacksonville has completed a similar project, and the ODOT team is talking with the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce to see what worked and didn't work for them.

Erin Borla, executive director of the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce described a program the chamber is putting in place to help smooth communication during the Cascade Avenue project. A key point to the chamber's approach is that all information will come directly from ODOT.

The chamber will be distributing clear plastic stands with a colorful two-sided information flyer to all the business on Cascade Avenue. The flyer will describe and have pictures of the Cascade Avenue streetscape project, and it will also contain up-to-date construction schedule information and route maps.

The flyers have two purposes. One purpose is to let retail customers know what the Cascade Avenue project is all about and what the outcome will be. The second is to ensure that there is a common message being understood and given to retail customers by all those working at Cascade Avenue business.

These flyers will be updated quarterly at first, and then weekly or biweekly as needed at the height of the construction. The chamber will also be hosting weekly or biweekly "Coffee with ODOT" meetings to let business owners get face-to-face answers to their questions and concerns.

In light of the significant changes in approach to the staging of this project, ODOT invited several contractors to walk the project in a "constructability review" to identify potential issues and concerns.

The ODOT team reported that the freight industry had expressed concern about the Locust-Highway 20 intersection. Darling said that there would be traffic control at that intersection for the duration of the project. They are also looking at other ways to route car traffic to reduce the load on that intersection. Traffic control on Main and Hood will also be required.

On several occasions council member Pat Thompson expressed his concern that there was not enough attention being paid to the challenges of routing the freight traffic to Barclay-Locust. His main concerns were the condition of the roadway and width of Barclay, and the anticipated bottleneck at Locust and Highway 20.

Director of Public Works Paul Bertagna noted that ODOT will be improving the turn radius at Highway 20 and Barclay as part of a planned three-inch asphalt overlay on Barclay prior to the start of the Cascade Avenue project.

Mayor Lon Kellstrom noted that freight industry representatives had driven Barclay and didn't see a problem with the road itself.