The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The City of Sisters is continuing forward on several highway improvement projects as Sisters moves into the spring and summer months.

In last week’s Sisters City Council workshop, Public Works Director Paul Bertagna and Tony Roos from Kittelson and Associates presented to the Council the initial design mock-up for the Barclay Drive Improvement Project.

The Barclay Drive Improvement Project originated many months ago after Barclay Drive was identified as the alternate route around downtown Sisters to relieve congestion on Highway 20/126.

It is already considered the detour to reach the roundabout on Highway 20 going west out of town, and this project’s goal is to improve the route for larger volumes of traffic and semitrucks, as well as making it a path for pedestrians and bicyclists. The city’s portion of the alternate route and design renderings show a three-lane corridor with multi-use paths.

The team, along with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has done right-of-way (ROW) studies and traffic studies on the area and came up with the design, width of pavements, and intersection crosswalks, including lighted crosswalks at major areas of travel. They want the design to incorporate a 30-mph design speed and flatten the curves that are already existing on the bypass. That will provide additional right-of-way access.

According to the project summary: “This will require a handful of ROW acquisitions where the City will contract with a third-party ROW agent to work with the property owners to acquire the necessary property. Most of the acquisitions are slivers of ROW from 0-3 inches in width, so they do not have a significant impact on the properties.”

The project is intended to allow for more access to downtown Sisters while avoiding congestion throughout town. The 10-foot-wide multi-use paths and widening of the roadway between Barclay and North Pine Street were already put in place due to adjacent development.

“Between Pine Street and Locust, the improvements include the same three-lane cross-section, curb and gutter, 10-foot concrete sidewalks, stormwater, and lighting improvements,” the project summary states.

Kittelson and Associates will serve as the project managers and contractors for the highway improvement. Kittelson is also working on the roundabout projects currently underway on Highway 20 toward Bend.

In other Council business, two ordinances were unanimously passed in Wednesday’s meeting, after two public hearings last month.

The first ordinance approved an amendment to the Sisters Comprehensive Plan to adopt the updated parks master plan to replace all current Parks Master Plans. The Council deliberated, and with no public comment, and votes from the council, the ordinance was approved.

The second approved ordinance was an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan map and zone map for the Heavenly Acres subdivision.

Mayor Michael Preedin declared an Arbor Day Proclamation, officially marking April 28 as Arbor Day, to be celebrated with the planting of trees.

Councilor Jennifer Letz was appointed to the Sisters Economic Development Advisory Board headed up by Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO).