Another roundabout for Sisters?

A proposed mini-roundabout at the intersection of Highway 20 and Locust Street by the elementary school would provide a near-term solution to the congestion at that intersection. It would also enable truck traffic to avoid Cascade Avenue by using the Barclay Drive alternate route, because trucks would be able to use the roundabout for left-hand turns from Locust onto Highway 20.

Funding for a roundabout could possibly be secured from the House Bill 2017 Safe Routes to School program because of its proximity to the elementary school. The application is due October 15.

Bob Townsend, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) manager for Central Oregon, told the Sisters City Council last week that the mini-roundabout is one of ODOT Region 4's highest priorities. It is an improvement that was identified in the recently completed Sisters Transportation Safety Plan modification.

Kittleson and Associates, traffic engineers, are currently performing an analysis of the intersection and will provide some concept drawings, and ODOT is scoping the project.

Several factors will influence whether the project is chosen in this period's funding cycle. Most safe routes to school involve sidewalk improvements, crosswalk installations, and trail or path extensions to schools. The mini-roundabout will be a unique request. The percentage of students in the school who receive free or reduced lunches is also a factor. Sisters Elementary School is right at the threshold of 40 percent. The Safe Routes to School funds are awarded every two years.

The near-term solution is feasible for installation fairly soon because it doesn't require any right-of-way acquisitions and can be constructed within the current intersection footprint. That would keep the cost down while avoiding time-consuming property acquisition.

The other priority project, identified in the Sisters TSP update that is being scoped as part of ODOT's 2021-24 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), is the possibility of installing a large roundabout at the junction of Highway 20 and Highway 126 at the east end of town. There is currently no identified funding source for that project.

"For now, ODOT is content to capture the scope of the project and budget for project readiness," according to Townsend. "We are moving in the right direction."

The Highway 20/126 roundabout is not at the top of the priority list because it is not identified as a Transportation Safety Project due to no significant number of accidents at the junction.