News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Traffic has been very heavy through Sisters this summer, as travelers take advantage of a strong economy and cheap gas to enjoy some travel. Imagine a weekend Sisters traffic bottleneck multiplied by... well, nobody really knows how much.
That undefined-yet-predictable scenario is preoccupying local agencies from the Oregon Department of Transportation to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office to the Sisters Fire District and the City of Sisters. Representatives of those agencies and more met last week at City Hall to discuss contingency plans for an expected influx of visitors to witness the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21.
While the majority of eclipse-related events will be concentrated in the area of Madras, which features the area's longest period of totality, Sisters is a gateway into Central Oregon and will likely see significant traffic impact as well as people opting to view the event from here.
Current surveys and modeling project that each day from Thursday, August 17 through Monday, August 21 will be about equal in terms of volume. That's mixed news from the standpoint of emergency services - it's a longer exposure to events, but spreading out arrivals may lower the intensity of the event.
Sisters' alternate route will be in action throughout the period leading up to and immediately after the eclipse, with extra personnel out to manage traffic impacts - to the degree that that is possible.
Sgt. Nathan Garibay, of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, who serves as the county's emergency services manager, says that there will be at least a couple hundred thousand more people in the county than usual during the run-up to the eclipse, to a total of about 412,000 people. That's a minimum.
"We're really confident that this is our bottom number," he said. "We're building contingencies on a much higher number."
Weather could affect the number of people in the area. If there is predicted cloud cover on the coast and in the Valley, there will likely be an influx of day-trippers chasing the opportunity to view the eclipse.
The influx at the height of fire season has officials concerned.
"It's just going to increase our opportunity for starts," said Garibay.
Another concern is that traffic will be so heavy that it will be difficult to respond to accidents and breakdowns on the roads.
Sisters Deputy Fire Chief Tim Craig said that the district will staff up for the days leading up to the event so that all the ambulances in the district are fully staffed. But traffic may impede their ability to respond, especially on the Santiam Pass.
"One of our big concerns is being able to get ambulances up there," he said.
However, since the largest volume of calls is in the immediate Sisters area, the district is not planning at this time to stage an ambulance up Highway 20 to the west.
"We're going to keep our ambulances mobile," Craig said.
Sisters Fire Chief Roger Johnson recommended that tow trucks be staged along the highway to make it faster and easier to clear a wreck or a breakdown.
Black Butte Ranch will also have two ambulances on duty. The Ranch itself - which will have 6,000 people aboard that weekend - will be closed to the general public for the eclipse in an effort to manage traffic and population numbers.
The Forest Service plans to station several large Dumpsters in the area to collect trash from the expected influx of campers - both in developed campgrounds and dispersed through the National Forest. There will be additional personnel - "eyes in the woods" - on duty to interact with the public and to remind people of extreme fire danger.
Depending on conditions, a campfire ban may be emplaced.
Sisters is expected to have two sheriff's deputies and a technician on duty during the event. Response and arrests will be prioritized based on public safety concerns, with the most basic priority being to keep as many deputies on the road as possible at all times.
Just as with ambulance and fire service, traffic may impede response.
"My biggest concern is getting there," said Patrol Lieutenant Ty Rupert.
One of the major concerns for the region is the supply of gasoline.
"Fuel is going to be an issue," Garibay said.
Garibay said that he is communicating with the region's fuel supplier to explore the possibility of staging a fuel truck or two in Central Oregon in a secured facility so that fuel deliveries can be made during the Thursday-Monday window when travel is expected to be heaviest.
"The last thing we want is thousands of people here who can't get gas," he said.
Local residents are encouraged to fill the tank the week before the event and also to stock up on food, water and medicines, just as they would in preparation for an emergency or a disaster. Residents are encouraged to "shelter in place" and view the eclipse from where they are if they can - just to avoid being out on overcrowded roads.
In fact, the entire mobilization for eclipse management will serve as a live-fire exercise for a disaster of region-wide scope, such as a Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake.
"This is a fantastic training opportunity for that," Deputy Chief Craig said.
The public will get a chance to ask questions and get detailed information about the expected impacts and local agency response at a public meeting set for Tuesday, August 1, at 6 p.m. at the Sisters Fire District Community Hall located at 301 S. Elm St.
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.
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