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Wednesday, July 15, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I N I O
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Consider alternative
for paved trail
By Greg Werts
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
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To the Editor:
The letters from JoEllyn Loehr, Susie Werts
and Isolde Hedemark in the July 1 Nugget
were obviously coordinated to try to get the
proposed Sisters to Black Butte Trail moved
to “the north side of the highway” (per Isolde
Hedemark).
Ms. Loehr tries to make the convincing
case that there is “already a trail from Sisters
that goes all the way to Indian Ford … where
it ties into the Metolius Area recreation trails.
It isn’t paved, but it could be easily developed
as the paved trail that advocates want for ADA
reasons.”
Ms. Loehr, Ms. Werts, and Ms. Hedemark,
do you know that the trail you propose instead
of the current route happens to be on the other
side of Highway 20 from Black Butte Ranch?
Are you all in favor of an ADA-type trail
where users are required to cross Highway 20
to get to or from the ranch? Are you saying
that this is safe for people in wheelchairs? Are
you saying this is safe for children much less
adults?
The only thing that is consistent in your let-
ters is that the alternate trail you propose is
far away from your properties — “Not in My
Back Yard.” This despite the majority of Black
Butte homeowners and Tollgate homeowners
are in favor of a trail that would be convenient
for them to use.
We are not talking about building a prison
near your properties. The people who use
these trails will be either BBR owners/guests
and/or Tollgate residents and Sisters residents.
We are not felons.
Ken Serkownek
s
s
s
To the Editor:
The need for (a paved) trail supposedly
justifies its construction. Need has revolved
around several issues — recreation being the
priority. In spite of the fact that our forests
See leTTerS on page 16
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If STA leadership is sin-
cere about their desire to
provide a “trail for every-
one,” why is there such a
myopic reluctance to con-
sider an alternative location
for their paved path that
would better address the
needs of the disabled and
elderly, and provider easier
(and much less controver-
sial) access for a wider
group of people?
After all, Commissioner
Unger himself has said
that he sees the project as
a county recreational trail,
not something that should
be tailored specifically for
usage by Tollgate and BBR
residents. If the goal is to
provide a paved path forest
experience in Sisters to the
widest group of people, a
more logical, efficient, cost-
effective, and eco-friendly
location would be between
the trailhead at the end of
Pine Street and the park-
ing area at the Indian Ford
Campground.
Parking: At the Sisters
end, the current path plan
completely fails to address
the issue of parking, let
alone provide for handi-
capped parking and ADA-
compliant access points to
the path. The Pine Street
trailhead provides plenty
of on-street parking in an
area that sees very little
traffic, making it much
safer than beginning in the
McDonald’s parking lot and
then crossing W. Railway to
access the suggested current
path’s starting point. There
is plenty of flat space adja-
cent to the Pine Street trail-
head that could easily be
used to create handicapped
parking, ADA compliant
access points, and educa-
tional kiosks for students.
Yes, students — a critical
group of potential path-
users that seems to have
been overlooked in the cur-
rent proposed path location.
Which sounds like a more
desirable plan — unload-
ing the kids in the busy
McDonald’s parking lot and
have them walk a path sand-
wiched between Highway
20 and the Tollgate sub-
division, or having them
start their journey less than
a mile away at the Pine
Street trailhead, which
hardly sees any traffic and
is completely out of sight of
Highway 20? On the Indian
Ford Campground end of
the path, there is plenty of
space as well.
Terrain: From an aes-
thetic standpoint, the Indian
Ford Trail would be further
away from Highway 20
than the currently proposed
site. Having ridden my bike
through the area numer-
ous times, I can attest to
the fact that the highway is
not visible, nor do you pass
by numerous homes. It is a
beautiful stretch that would
provide more of a true for-
est experience for the widest
population — isn’t that the
goal? It is also practically
flat, with very little grade.
In order for a path to be
ADA compliant, it must not
exceed a grade steeper than
5%. The USFS has already
confirmed that the current
proposed path cannot meet
this standard. Choosing a
flatter path would better
accommodate a wider group
of users with varying abili-
ties. It would simply be the
more responsible choice.
Private property: The
Indian Ford Trail would
make all of these very con-
tentious and potentially liti-
gious issues disappear.
It’s already there: The
beautiful thing about the
Indian Ford Trail is that
there is already an existing
network of fire trails that
run most of the distance
between Sisters and the
Indian Ford campground.
This means significantly
less damage to the environ-
ment and to the taxpayers
who would be paying for all
of this.
Some argue that this
alternative location fails to
“connect our communities,”
which really is a rather hol-
low phrase that smacks of
grant-speak. Sisters cer-
tainly has its fair share of
problems, but is anybody
really losing any sleep over
whether or not we are physi-
cally connected as a com-
munity by an asphalt slab?
If this path must be built,
build it in a location that
would best accommodate
the widest group of people,
cause less damage to the
environment, and save the
taxpayers some money.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.