Iron grey skies and snow flurries weren’t nearly enough to darken the spirits of assembled dignitaries, city officials and citizens out for a morning ground-breaking ceremony for the Cascade Avenue Reconstruction Project on Saturday, March 1. The event was to launch the first phase in the massive repaving and revitalization of the downtown region along Highway 20 as it slices through Sisters.
An exhibition of Knife River earthmovers, big rigs, backhoes, graders and dump trucks signaled the start of this major makeover effort which is due to complete sometime mid-May. The corner of Fir and Cascade was ground zero for the festivities as visitors and friends mingled and mused about the proposed downtown facelift, while kids sported pink and yellow plastic construction helmets, sloshing around in the slush while collecting stickers and toys from a line of display tables. Volunteers handed out walking maps of the downtown business district, highlighting key areas and answering questions about what to expect on the project’s agenda.
Four city blocks were blocked off for the kickoff event with fire trucks, ambulances, a Deschutes County SWAT truck, live radio remote from 102.9 KSJJ and a fun bucket jam band with kids and adults drumming on plastic containers. All to celebrate the beginning of a complicated $6.6 million reconstruction and beautification project on a six-block span, all themed to an 1880s western town. The project was jointly funded by the City of Sisters and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
At 10am after a warm greeting on a cold day by Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Erin Borla the mood was set for the symbolic moment.
“I’m so proud to have everyone out here today, despite the weather, to get this project underway,” she said, as wet flakes fell.
ODOT director Matt Garrett joined Sisters City Council President David Asson, Deschutes County Commissioners Alan Unger and Tammy Baney, Sisters City Councilors Wendy Holzman and McKibben Womack, Sisters Mayor Brad Boyd, Knife River Construction Manager Casey Huettl and Miss Rodeo Oregon Sara Marcus.
Officials and honored guests grabbed nine ceremonial gold shovels and poised them over a mound of dirt as a countdown signaled the second to plunge their tools into the soil, symbolically starting the two-month endeavor to beautify and widen the downtown sidewalks, closing down the main artery through Sisters until May.
A network of signs will guide traffic safely through a Barclay Avenue bypass, maneuvering commercial and passenger vehicles around the construction zones while the work is being completed. To assist with the alterations, a temporary signal has been installed on Highway 20 near Ray’s Food Place to allow for a smooth flow. Mayor Brad Boyd ensured the crowd that the city was still open for business and that if you have a favorite store, shop or restaurant on Cascade Avenue, you can still visit it while the project exists.
“We’ve continually revised the construction plan with ODOT to minimize the inconvenience for local residents and businesses,” he said. “I think the vast majority of folks in this town recognize the great need for this project and are really looking forward to the outcome.”
Borla is thrilled to finally be launching the project and envisions a transformed downtown Sisters that will delight visitors and residents alike.
“The project had been on the docket for a long time before it was approved,” she said. “It was the culmination of a lot of work incorporating ODOT and the City of Sisters and a Federal earmark destination. A lot of people think about construction as the big hairy ogre and we want to show people a more positive path and we’re banding together to show that the community is embracing this project. “We also want to give a real positive spin on the construction that’s happening.
Construction will start March 3 when the big trucks roll in and the major construction is expected to end May 15. There’ll be final landscaping elements and small finishing touches after that with other minor assorted night work, but the road will be back open May 15.”
For Borla and Boyd, the most important aspect of this disruption is making sure the message is positive and that people know Sisters will be open during the construction process. The theme of the day was “I Dig Big Rigs,” so the city printed up stickers and t-shirts for Saturday in an effort to get the message out further.
“There is a detour through town and don’t anticipate any major delays, with open detours on Hood and Main Avenues and there’s a temporary truck freight route along Barclay and Locust as well,” explained Borla.
On Monday, road crews were already gouging into the old asphalt and concrete down Sisters’ primary thoroughfare, wasting no time in diving head first into the ambitious project. When completed, a reworked system of storm water drains, expanded curbs and corners, widened sidewalks, fresh landscaping, stylish benches and antique street lamps will adorn and fortify a new Cascade Avenue.
“This is a great opportunity to see how a community, state agencies and the government can make something good happen in our town. We want to get in and get out and have a wonderful finished project and are so excited to finally be under way.”
For more questions and info on the Cascade Avenue Project go to www.Sisterscountry.com/cascade-ave and follow the ODOT links.
