Letters to the Editor 02/15/2017

To the Editor:

I am writing to say thank you to the Oregon DOT and to the City of Sisters councilors who had the lives of the residents of Sisters in mind when they approved the roundabout at Barclay and Highway 20.

If you will just "Google" "US DOT roundabouts" it will take you to the website "https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/innovative/roundabouts/" where you will see the facts that have been presented at public meetings concerning the Sisters roundabout.

You will find there "The FHWA Office of Safety identified roundabouts as a Proven Safety Countermeasure because of their ability to substantially reduce the types of crashes that result in injury or loss of life." Also that "Most significantly, roundabouts REDUCE the types of crashes where people are seriously hurt or killed by 78-82 percent when compared to conventional stop-controlled and signalized intersections, per the AASHTO Highway Safety Manual."

This fact was also cited when ODOT representatives related that when traffic lights were placed in several high accident intersections in the Bend area the number of accidents DID NOT go down.

The roundabout at Barclay and Highway 20 has the main benefit of reducing the speed of vehicles coming into Sisters. Many drivers do not make the transition from highway speeds coming into town. The roundabout will slow traffic to 15-25 mph and prevent the high-speed "T-bone" type accidents that have plagued that intersection. A traffic light doesn't do that. A roundabout forces you to slow (curbs) and prevents "T-bone" impacts by forcing a 45-degree entry into traffic.

Thank you, again, ODOT and City of Sisters for caring about the safety of me and my loved ones.

Gordon Golden

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To the Editor:

Congratulations to all those folks who have been successful in obtaining the roundabout in Sisters.

I have traveled and lived in areas with roundabouts. So, roundabouts have never been a problem for me. However, this one is bad news and will make shopping, banking, doctor visits etc. longer to reach if you live north of Highway 20.

Traffic lights were installed and were wonderful, but they were removed. Now, I hope this roundabout is not a disaster like back-in parking. Everyone objected, but the City did it anyway and enforced it. We, the people, paid for it and then paid to remove it in order to return to the usual way of parking.

I am glad of my move from Camp Polk Road to a condo on the south side of Cascade Avenue.

Mickey Duehren

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To the Editor:

I attended the ODA hearing regarding the airport's request to change their listing to Appendix M, and have done research on what this would mean for our community.

Residents need to know in plain English how this change would impact our peaceful community. Currently the City of Sisters has some control of activities at the airport through land-use and zoning. If the airport is added to ODA's appendix M the City relinquishes ALL control over airport uses to the state.

Loss of this control opens the hangar doors to helicopter tours, skydiving, gliders, ultra-lights, gyrocopters etc. All of which the airport owners have said they are actively pursuing. Just think for a minute how this might impact you. Planning to have a barbecue in your backyard? Hiking a peaceful trail? Fly fishing near town? Do you really want your daughter's outdoor wedding disrupted by a helicopter tour or when skydivers decide to scream during their jump?

If you believe you will not be negatively impacted, think again. Think of your property values. You don't live next to a freeway for a reason - why would you want a freeway overhead?

Let's keep local control of our airspace. Let the City know you support keeping local control to maintain our quiet community.

The flight school is fantastic and will not close no matter what category the airport is in. It's an approved use and only in jeopardy if the airport owners decide to end it.

Tom Hickman

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To the Editor:

Last week the Oregon Department of Aviation (ODA) held a hearing to upgrade the Sisters airport to an airport of state concern. Much was said at the hearing of what would happen if the upgrade didn't occur, most of it untrue. SHS aviation students, misinformed, thought their program would stop, pilots talked about the airport closing, none of that is true. Actually the ODA admitted that if the airport upgrade was not granted, the airport would continue to function exactly as it does now.

So what would change? Well, the airport owners say they will have access to even more taxpayer money. That is in addition to the over $1.3 million dollars of taxpayer money they already received to upgrade their runway and add a taxiway. Some think that at least some of that money might have been better used for schools, affordable housing or to repair our bridges and roads rather than spending public money to improve a private

airport.

But the most important change would be the City giving up local control of aviation activities to the State. So, when it warms up and you are upset that the quiet town you moved to is overrun with even more skydiving activity, or the tow planes launching the gliders or the tour helicopter flapping over your house (all of which are planned according to the airport) and you call the City to control it, don't be surprised when they say they can't.

Why would a city voluntarily give up local control of something as significant as a local airport? Good question. Maybe you should call Mayor Chuck Ryan at 203-233-1881 or email him at [email protected]