Roundabout starting to take shape for Sisters

The roundabout at the west end of town is starting to take a more concrete shape.

Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) representatives provided Sisters City Council with an update on plans for the roundabout slated for the intersection of Highway 20 and McKinney Butte and Barclay Drive.

The right-of-way acquisition process involving adjacent property will be ongoing until fall of this year. The overall footprint for the project has been determined, so now the engineers are able to start work on determining the placement of storm drains, splitter islands, and other infrastructure features of the roundabout.

ODOT plans to convene three separate focus groups for input on features of the project. One group will consider the esthetics - the look and feel - of the project, including colors, dark skies, landscaping, and project materials. They will meet five times during summer/fall 2016.

Staging and traffic management during construction, to mitigate the impact of the project, will be studied by a second group that will meet approximately three times over summer/fall. These two groups will be made up of property and business owners near the roundabout, as well as interested private citizens and City staff.

A group of local artists will explore the possibility of public art being placed in the center of the roundabout. They will consider the scale and size of any art piece, the view of it from all directions, the message conveyed by the piece, and its impact as part of an esthetically pleasing gateway into downtown Sisters.

Gary Farnsworth, ODOT Region 4 area manager, stressed that the tight budget for the roundabout necessitates their first priority being the infrastructure and actual construction costs. Any artwork is outside the ODOT budget. Mayor Chris Frye indicated that the City is hoping to forge a public/private partnership to fund any artwork.

Public Works Director Paul Bertagna indicated the deliberations on the artwork and securing it will take a year, and work by that focus group will begin in May.

Lighting for the roundabout must consider first and foremost the public safety of pedestrians and cars. The lights will be typical 40-foot posts with 52-foot mast arms. Bertagna assured Council they will work to keep any uplighting and glare to a minimum by using recessed bulbs that will be covered and aiming down, to comply with the City's dark skies ordinance.

To avoid serious impact on traffic flow and tourism during the summer months, ODOT plans to put the bid out in December 2016. Construction and public outreach will occur winter/summer 2017, with enough completion to open to traffic by Memorial Day 2017. This is similar to the schedule used for the Cascade Avenue improvement project. Finishing touches will continue through summer 2017.

Likewise, ODOT will keep the citizens of Sisters informed regarding various aspects of the construction schedule, as they did on the Cascade project. They will be working with the Chamber of Commerce regarding issues of interest to local businesses. There is a Chamber presentation scheduled for April 26. The Chamber will also conduct a marketing campaign over in the valley to let visitors know that during the construction, Sisters is open for business.

City Council will also provide updates through their new monthly newsletter going out with utility bills, to begin in June.

A kickoff meeting in early May is scheduled for all participants of the three focus groups. Sometime in late summer or early fall 2016, Council has asked ODOT to convene a town hall meeting for the citizens to hear about the project, view the proposed design, and have the opportunity to ask questions of ODOT and the contractor for the project. Ongoing public outreach will continue throughout construction.

ODOT and the Council are hopeful that the same spirit of cooperation and project success will prevail for the roundabout as they did for the Cascade Avenue

project.