Page 6
PROGRESS 2017
East Oregonian/Hermiston Herald
Hermiston Area Regional Transit route
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
EO Media Group
Legend
W. Punkin Center Road
Bus routes
State routes/highways
Rural routes
Train tracks
Metro area
River
Municipal
Rivers/water
Parks
395
Um
ati
lla
N.W. 11th Street
19
Theater
Sports
Park
E. Theater
20
F
N.
R oad
Riverfront
Park
W. Orchard Avenue
W. Highland Avenue
11
30
W. Orchard Avenue
10
S.W.
25
E. Highland Avenue
2
W. Moore Avenue
1 33
26
rt
rpo
Hermiston
Municipal
Airport
ay
W
Eastern Oregon
Trade & Event
Center
Ai
W. Gettman Road
Alan Kenaga/
E.O. Media Group
27 Highland
Park
Newport
Park
32
1,000 feet
Source: City of Hermiston
28
E. Main Street
Hodge Park
W. Joseph Avenue
4
29
9 31
W. Highland Avenue
3
13
D
S. First Street
th
17
er
la
Riv
oad
al R
on
iag
24
McKenzie Park
Doctor
Belt Park
514
St.
395
8
23
S.E. 10th Street
S.W. 11th Street
12
7
Victory
Square
Park
Sunset
Park
S. Townsend Road
6
Volunteer
Park
W. Ridgeway Avenue
22
207
N.E. Fourth Street
15
18
Butte
Park &
Funland
H
op
Lo
207
17
N. First Street
Pr
le
ind
ce
Pla
W. Elm Avenue
Lane
21
irst
16
l
Uma ti
Hermiston will see several
public improvement projects
in 2017, including a new free
bus system, additions to the
West Highland Trail project
and construction on projects
at the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center.
Transportation
The city will undergo
several
transportation
upgrades in the coming
months. Starting Jan. 3, the
city started a bus service
in partnership with the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation
to provide a free fi xed-route
bus service to all members
of the public. Kayak Public
Transit is now operating a
bus in the city from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday.
The city expects to
spend $125,000 a year on
the bus system. The service
will be offered only within
Hermiston city limits, but
will provide links to other
bus systems that travel to
surrounding cities including
Stanfi eld, Umatilla and
Pendleton.
The service is free —
because the service is funded
by a grant from the Federal
Transit Administration and
because the tribe concluded
it would not be able to get
the number of customers
necessary to make charging
for the service cost-effective.
“If you take in fares, it
cuts into your grant,” said
Byron Smith, Hermiston city
manager. “And they have
to hit a pretty high number
of riders to break even with
collecting fares.”
J.D. Tovey, planning
director for the tribes, said this
is one of the fi rst within-city
services Kayak will provide,
and the city of Hermiston
approached the tribes about
providing service.
“If other cities are inter-
ested, we’d be happy to talk
to them — but we leave it up
to the city,” he said.
The city will also add two
new traffi c signals, at the
intersections of Highway 207
and Elm Avenue, and at 11th
Street and Orchard Avenue.
Work on those signals will
start in the coming weeks.
Crews will also add a left-
turn lane for southbound
traffi c on Highway 207/11th
Street turning into Good
Shepherd Medical Center.
The cost for the traffi c
signals is about $1.6 million.
Half of the funds will be
provided by an Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation grant, and a quarter
will be paid for by the Good
Shepherd Healthcare System.
The remaining funds will be
supplied by the city of Herm-
iston.
Beautifi cation
The city will continue to
work on the West Highland
Trail project, this year adding
a mile of trail between
Southwest 11th and 23rd
streets near Riverfront Park.
The project is part of a plan
to eventually expand the trail
into a 6.5-mile loop around
western Hermiston.
Construction on this
portion of the cyclist- and
pedestrian-friendly path will
likely not start until late 2017
January 2017
Hermiston HART bus stops *
Location
1. Hermiston Plaza
2. S.W. Seventh Street and W. Moore Ave.
3. S.W. Ninth Street and W. Johns Ave.
4. S.W. 11th Street and W. Joseph Ave.
5. S.W. 11th Street and W. Division Ave.
6. N.W. 11th Street and W. Ridgeway Ave.
7. N.W. Butte Drive and W. Ridgeway Ave.
8. N.W. Third Street and W. Ridgeway Ave.
9. S.W. Third Street and W. Orchard Ave.
10. S.W. Seventh Street and W. Orchard Ave.
11. S.W. 10th Street and W. Orchard Ave.
12. Riverfront Park
13. S.W. 15th Street and W. Sunland Ave.
14. S.W. 11th Street and W. Division Ave.
15. N.W. 11th Street and W. Hartley Ave.
16. Good Shepherd Medical Center
17. W. Elm Ave. (Next to Butte Park)
A.M.
9:10, 10:40
9:14, 10:44
9:16, 10:46
9:17, 10:47
9:19, 10:49
9:21, 10:51
9:23, 10:53
9:24, 10:54
9:26, 10:56
9:27, 10:57
9:29, 10:59
9:34, 11:04
9:38, 11:08
9:40, 11:10
9:42, 11:12
9:45, 11:15
9:47, 11:17
P.M.
1:10, 2:45
1:14, 2:49
1:16, 2:51
1:17, 2:52
1:19, 2:54
1:21, 2:56
1:23, 2:58
1:24, 2:59
1:26, 3:01
1:27, 3:02
1:29, 3:04
1:34, 3:09
1:38, 3:13
1:40, 3:15
1:42, 3:17
1:45, 3:20
1:47, 3:22
EO fi le photo
A Kayak Public Transit bus picks up passengers in 2015
at Roy Raley Park in Pendleton.
or early 2018, Smith said.
It will cost approximately
$650,000. About $150,000
will come from the city, and
$513,000 from ODOT.
Smith said the project will
take a while to complete,
as working through ODOT
means the city has to deal
with some right-of-way
issues.
The city will also make
some small changes to other
parks — Smith said there are
plans to upgrade playground
equipment at Sunset and
Greenwood parks this year.
The city will also under-
take its fi rst phase of the
festival street project in 2017.
“We’re trying to set up
a place that can be a central
gathering place,” Smith
said. “I recently came from
managing cities in the
Midwest, and they often
had courthouse squares.
We’re trying to make an area
conducive to community
events, but still keep streets
functional.”
Smith said the project is
still being designed, but the
phases — there are three
— have been identifi ed by
location. The fi rst will be in
front of city hall, where a
pedestrian-friendly, curbless
street will be constructed.
The second will continue that
Location
18. Walmart (South side of building)
19. Fiesta Foods (South front of building)
20. N.E. Sixth Street and E. Montana Ave.
21. N.E. Aspen Drive (The Aspens)
22. N.E. Fourth Street and E. Dogwood Ave.
23. N.E. Fourth Street and Catherine Ave.
24. N.E. Fourth Street and Gladys Ave.
25. S.E. Fifth Street and E. Highland Ave.
26. S.E. Columbia Drive
27. N.E. 13th Street and N.E. Madrona Drive
28. N.E. 10th Street and E. Ridgeway Ave.
29. S.E. Seventh Street and Diagonal Road
30. City Hall
31. S.W. Third Street and W. Orchard Ave.
32. S. First Street and Highland Ave.
33. Hermiston Plaza
A.M.
9:50, 11:20
9:53, 11:23
9:57, 11:27
9:59, 11:29
10:01, 11:31
10:02, 11:32
10:03, 11:33
10:05, 11:35
10:08, 11:38
10:13, 11:43
10:15, 11:45
10:18, 11:48
10:19, 11:49
10:21, 11:51
10:23, 11:53
10:25, 11:55
P.M.
1:50, 3:25
1:53, 3:28
1:57, 3:32
1:59, 3:34
2:01, 3:36
2:02, 3:37
2:03, 3:38
2:05, 3:40
2:08, 3:43
2:13, 3:48
2:15, 3:50
2:18, 3:53
2:19, 3:54
2:21, 3:56
2:23, 3:58
2:25, 4:00
*Effective Jan. 3 through March 31
project north, to the future
site of the senior center on
Ridgeway Avenue. The fi nal
phase will be centered around
the arch on Second Street,
in front of the Hermiston
Conference Center.
Phase one, Smith said,
will cost about a million
dollars. The city plans to be
done with the design by fall
of 2017, and start construc-
tion on the fi rst phase after
that.
Activities
The city will oversee the
development of a new senior
center building on Ridgeway
Avenue — a 7,200-square-
foot facility with a full-ser-
vice commercial kitchen, a
large dining room, breakout
rooms and a reception area,
among other amenities.
The project will cost $1.6
million, with most of the
funds from a community
development block grant.
The city will pursue funding
opportunities for a parking
lot, which will cost about
$200,000, and will also pay
for a basement — $550,000
— with funds from its own
reserves.
Viginia Beebe of the
Hermiston Senior Center said
she hopes the new center will
allow for more programs.
“We want to see more
activities,” she said. “But we
have to have more partici-
pation — people willing to
organize. We’re having a
heck of a time with that.”
Beebe said part of the
reason for that problem is
that currently, only one group
can use the center at any time
— but with the new center,
which will have multiple
meeting rooms, she hopes
that will change.
The city and county will
also oversee the development
of two projects at the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center this year.
A rodeo arena and some
barns will be constructed in
2017, closing out the fi rst
phase of the center’s devel-
opment plans. EOTEC also
had a grand opening in 2016
for the events center.
Smith, who is a member
of the EOTEC board, said the
rodeo arena and the barns will
each cost about $4 million,
and are funded by the city,
Umatilla County, state grants
and local business owners.
Funds will also come from
the $3 million sale of the
former Umatilla County
Fairgrounds (on Orchard
Street) from the city to the
Hermiston School District.
EOTEC is the result
of an intergovernmental
agreement between the city
and the county, and has a
board of directors, including
employees from the city,
county and local businesses,
as well as representatives
from the fair.
The benefi ts of moving
the fair — and other events
— to the EOTEC facility
were many, Smith said.
“The
underground
infrastructure at the existing
fairgrounds is dilapidated,”
he said. “And the city has
grown up around the fair-
grounds — there’s limited
parking and it’s completely
surrounded. There’s limited
possibility for the event to
grow.”
He added that the current
EOTEC space has more
than twice the acreage of
the Umatilla County Fair-
grounds.
In the future, he said,
plans for EOTEC include an
amphitheater and an indoor
riding arena.
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