2
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I
N I
O
Keeping them active…
N
Transportation improvement
underway in Sisters Country
By Emme Shoup & Janel Ruehl
Guest Columnist
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Sisters Park & Recreation District is finding ways to keep young folks in Sisters active and happy.
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer¾s name, address and
phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions
not necessarily 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 Unpublished items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 10 a.m. Monday.
To the Editor:
In response to the letter from Mr. Baldwin
on February 10: Even though I support Biden
and his policies, I agree the landslide of exec-
utive orders is disconcerting in view of his
stated goals of promoting unity.
However, Mr. Baldwin falls into a danger-
ous “fake news” format, which has fed the
extreme conservative movement. Saying that
Biden has a “long history of graft” is called
libel unless you can produce facts that prove
this statement.
An extremely important improvement in
the current divisiveness of our social fabric
will be to stick to the facts. Otherwise there
can be no trust between different groups and
followers will believe whatever they are told
without thinking about it.
Sharon Booth
ó
ó
ó
To the Editor:
A big thank you to AirLink and Life Flight,
for getting the COVID-19 vaccines from
Portland to Redmond. Heroes, all.
Judy Bull
See LETTERS on page 7
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Mostly Sunny
Rain/Snow Showers
Rain/Snow
Mostly Sunny
42/26
42/32
38/24
41/23
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Partly Cloudy
Few Showers
Partly Cloudy
48/30
43/27
45/27
The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759
Tel: 541-549-9941 | Email: 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.
Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius
Production Manager: Leith Easterling
Creative Director: Jess Draper
Community Marketing
Partner: Vicki Curlett
Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May
Owner: J. Louis Mullen
The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area.
Third-class postage: one year, $55; six months (or less), $30. First-class postage: one year, $95; six months, $65.
Published Weekly. ©2021 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is pro-
hibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget
Newspaper, LLC. 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 unconditionally 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.
The Sisters Country
Vision is a community-
led vision project, created
with extensive commu-
nity engagement in 2018.
In the Vision, “Integrated
Transportation Options”
is prioritized as one of
five strategies to cre-
ate a more livable Sisters
Country. In 2021, the Vision
Implementation Team (VIT)
— representing local gov-
ernment, agencies, nonprof-
its, and community members
— is collaborating with sev-
eral key players to address
the evolving transportation
needs of the community.
Andrea Breault, the
Transportation Director of
Cascade East Transit (CET),
is working in collabora-
tion with Central Oregon
Intergovernmental Council
(COIC), the City of Sisters,
and AFSC (Age Friendly
Sisters Country) to expand
alternative transportation
options for the residents of
Sisters Country.
“Alternative transporta-
tion options are any mode of
transportation that is not sin-
gle-occupancy vehicle use.
This can be biking, walking,
carpooling, or taking the
bus,” Breault says. “CET is
the buses part of that equa-
tion, and collaborates with
other planning efforts on
the city and county level
to ensure they coincide.
Working as a network, we
can go above and beyond.”
In Sisters Country,
CET offers two fixed bus
routes that connect Sisters
to Redmond and Bend
Monday through Friday: the
Sisters Dial-a-Ride, which
runs one day a week to the
grocery store or the phar-
macy (and offers free fare
during COVID-19); and
the Sisters Shopper Shuttle
to Bend on Thursdays that
takes Sisters residents to
Walmart, Costco, and the
Cascade Village Shopping
Center in Bend — all funded
by the State Transportation
Improvement Fund (STIF)
Tax.
The Shopper Shuttle
is brand new, having
just launched on the first
Thursday of January 2021.
Through collaboration with
AFSC, CET is focused on
getting the word out to help
this new service be success-
ful. Breault emphasizes,
“The more successful it is,
the more programs like it
can be expanded!”
Looking ahead, CET
aims to expand services to
the weekends, increase the
frequency of buses on the
fixed-route schedule, grow
services within the existing
boundaries of Sisters, and
reach new tourist riders.
To support these goals,
VIT member and COIC
Executive Director, Tammy
Baney, is coordinating a
CET optimization study on
alternative options for on-
demand transportation. This
study serves as a snapshot of
the CET agency, including
its funding sources, how to
use those funds most effi-
ciently, and how to stay in
alignment with the commu-
nity’s needs.
Other local agencies and
organizations are working
to improve transportation in
Sisters Country. The City of
Sisters is working to secure
funding for the Locust-
Highway 20 Roundabout
construction project. When
complete, this project will
serve to better manage traf-
fic flow for not only vehi-
cles, but also bicyclists and
pedestrians. The City also
is in the process of com-
pleting a new traffic-safety
audit, which will be incor-
porated into the new Sisters
Transportation System Plan.
The City has some other
exciting transportation-
improvement projects in the
works this upcoming fiscal
year, including completing
the design of the Adams
Avenue streetscape improve-
ment project, which will add
bicycle and ADA-compliant
routes through the Adams
Avenue corridor.
“We will also be design-
ing and building the North
Pine Street multi-use path in
coordination with the new
developers of the old Forest
Service property, to provide
a continuous bicycle and
pedestrian path from Main
Avenue to the northern city
limits,” says Public Works
Director Bertagna.
A F S C ’s
Sisters
Transportation and Ride
Share (STARS) ride-share
program continues to serve
the Sisters community in
a variety of ways. They
recently added a new service:
meal delivery through the
Meals on Wheels Program!
STARS is available to trans-
port people to their COVID-
19 vaccine appointments,
and other important medi-
cal and dental appointments
around town, in Bend, and
Redmond — all at no cost!
“STARS is really doing a
lot for the residents of Sisters
Country and we encourage
others in the community to
join us!” says Dixie Eckford,
co-founder. If you are inter-
ested in getting involved as
a volunteer, or would like to
schedule a ride, visit www.
starsride.com/home.
Learn more about Sisters
Country Vision projects at
www.sistersvision.org.