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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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or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
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Wednesday
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sunday
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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.