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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2015)
2 Wednesday, April 22, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Paved trail would connect communities By Bjarne holm Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not neces- sarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: In connection with Jim Anderson’s column and the article about Deschutes Land Trust’s recent acquisition of Aspen Hollow Preserve along Whychus Creek, I would like to remind readers about the live camera feed at www. goldeneaglecam.com. The telescope and camera observe the nest activity from about a quarter-mile away across the canyon. The chicks are getting quite active now and are great fun to watch (see photo page 29). The female is Petra, and the two chicks have been named Fluffy and Goldy by the children in SPRD preschool. Jim Hammond s s s To the Editor: Tonight (Tuesday, April 14) at the infor- mational open house concerning the Highway 20/Barclay intersection, I found out that the Sisters City Council will make the final deci- sion on whether a roundabout or a signal will ultimately be placed at this intersection. Having experienced a signal at this inter- section during the Cascade Street [sic] facelift, I implore the City Council to ask the citizens within the Sisters School District to vote on whether they want a roundabout or a signal. Judy Bull s s s To the Editor: I just read that ODOT is going to install the first traffic light on Highway 97 in La Pine. The primary stated reason was to improve safety. I believe the same solution should be used in Sisters. I noted in a previous letter to The Nugget that the incidence of close calls at the Highway 20 and Barclay Road intersection seemed to me to be less with the temporary traffic lights in place. I believe that traffic lights are the best solution at this intersection rather than a traf- fic circle. Lights are used successfully on Highway 97 north of Bend in more complex See LEttErs on page 14 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday thursday Friday saturday Partly sunny Mostly sunny Slt. chance showers Chance showers 57/26 59/31 55/30 57/34 sunday monday Chance rain Chance rain 59/34 61/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Lisa Buckley Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $40; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2014 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. With the continued dis- cussion regarding a paved trail connecting Black Butte Ranch and Sisters, it is instructive to look at how such trails have affected other communities in the U.S. Headwaters Economics, an independent, nonpartisan research organization, main- tains a trail library that con- tains 90 professional studies on the impact of trails, espe- cially in small or medium- sized towns like Sisters: http://headwaterseconomics. org/trail. These studies over- whelmingly find that trails connecting communities bring many benefits to those who live in these develop- ments — including health and economic benefits. According to the residents living closest to the trails in an Omaha, Nebraska, study, the trail system has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on neighborhoods’ quality of life. A Vermont study has shown trails benefit resi- dents by reducing their own transportation costs, by reducing the costs of public road maintenance, and by increasing real estate values near trails. Ten of the stud- ies specifically document the positive impact of paved trails on property values. For example, in Delaware, Ohio, homes within 50 meters of paved bike paths sold for 4 percent more than similar homes without any paved bike paths nearby. Additionally, the trails helped develop a sense of community — and lowered crime. Along a 70-mile paved trail in southwest Ohio, homes sell on average for an additional $7 for every foot closer they are to the trail, and the effect persists for up to about a mile away. For example, a house adjacent to the trail would sell, on average, for almost $20,000 more than an identical house a half-mile away. One of the main find- ings shows that a paved trail network attracts more visitors to communities, by increasing an area’s appeal to those who would not otherwise have come to an area or would not stay there as long. An Outer Banks, North Carolina study found the majority of visitors were likely to extend their stay and return to the area because of the availability of paved bicycle facilities. A Wisconsin study cal- culated that half of 13 mil- lion annual cycling days are by non-residents, who contributed over $300 mil- lion to the state’s economy. A separate study of cycling events in Oregon estimated that participants spend about $100 a day, and that about of third of that goes to wages for local employees. For economies like Sisters that rely heavily on tourism dol- lars, a paved trail connecting our communities is an unde- niable economic asset. The Outer Banks study found that the annual eco- nomic impact from cycling far exceeds the public funds used to build paved pathway facilities. Evidence suggests that a paved trail will encourage local residents to exercise more, reducing both pub- lic and private healthcare costs. In Michigan the total avoided cost for strokes and heart disease due to bicy- cling is estimated to $256 million yearly. In Iowa the physical activity from cycling is associated with an estimated median savings of $354 mil- lion in lower annual health care costs due to fewer cases of heart and lung disease, and other diseases associated with less physical activity. A paved pathway link- ing communities in the Sisters area will open up recreational and commut- ing opportunities to a much more diverse user group than those who are able to use a dirt or gravel trail. The path- way is truly “equal access,” and a perfect complement to the miles of dirt trails that already exist in our region. Paved trails make sense from a cost-benefit point of view. Real estate values will increase, as will busi- ness opportunities, we will end up with a better sense of community, and it will pro- vide health and other qual- ity-of-life benefits. Isn’t it time for the major- ity of residents in develop- ments in the Sisters area who have said they favor such trails to come together and make the paved trail a reality? Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.