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THE GAZETTE-TIMES. Heppner. OR, Thursday. Nov. 2S. 1978. Page 3
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'Worst 25 miles in state'
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Road conditions force
daily nightmare on drivers
Early morning in Heppner is often mum enough for even
tome early rising chickens to want to go back to bed or the neat
as it were. Hut for rural school children and their bus
. . ... u kiii(n nr drowsv fosr. . .the
f drivers, . .come irony wm,
I wMk day trek from home to school must oe maae.
1 For Bill Weatherford. Heppner. whose bus rout runs
I the Heppner bus garage Weatherford sims his bus along . road
I claimed by the state highway department to be at least 18 leet
i rider." describes the wheeling helmsman, "and as far as I'm
i . j .l. .., ok In the. atate of Oregon.
i conccrneu iv m -
Leaving at 6:30 a.m. each week day morning irora we
Weatherford aims his bus along a road
claimed by the state highway department to be at least 18 feet
wide. A wide portion of the road, personally measured by
ir,w..rt,.A i.,rnA un 10 feet 2 Inches of pavement across. One
I .ide of the road being the side of a hill and the other an abrupt
view of S deep valley.
Th.,h ih. rnH is comfortably wide enough for a car, the
Oregon State Bus Drivers Training Program instructs Its drivers
to a Lav in their own lane at all times never vemurmg
yellow line Into the other lane. "On some of the turns ciaun.
Weatherford, "If you stay on your side of the road you can t stay
on the pavement." ,.t..,.
Because of break up ol pavement on some ui u B-
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k especially imporUnt factor in that this same road U also used by
1 logging, farm and commercial trucks. "It's a good thing that the
road is crowned." Weatherford says with relief, "because I know
I otherwise our mirrors would hit."
1 Referring to the mirrors of the eight foot wide bus and
1 equally msssive trucks Weatherford asks a boy. we'll call Jack,
i Sometimes when we meet loggin' truck on this road It doesn t
I quite look like there's enough room does it." The boy nods an
None of the kids on the bua seem concerned about the road
d. Ther take the four or five
mey ie . . j .
. l k -,min and the stock and produce trucks in
fthVaftcrnoon in stride. The, can look down the gorge of the
I picturesque valley each day and appreciate its beauty without
I worrying about the pending danger It offers. They can enjoy the
S bumpy ride the broken pavement creates without fighting for
control of the "washboard corners, iney m v-
confidence because so far they have been lucky. Says Jack. "No it
doesn't bother me. I've been using this road aU my life." But even
that testimonial doesn't over state the luck that fate hasnt
turned against them and so far nothing has happened.
Perhaps Weatherford can take credit for some of that luck.
He manages to maneuver his bus over a road often clouded In
dense fog in spots and winter ice In others. "Sometimes the fog
so bad that you can't see more than few yards ahead,
dramatizes the bus driver. "It would help if we at least had some
more reflectors for reference points, not guard railings, they act
as snow guards and I don't need that Just more reflectors so
when you look out off the side of the road you can see more than
'r Weatherforefs chief concern in all of this is "for these kids.
These trucks carrying their 30 and 40 ton loads are one thing but
I'm hauling kids and that's a different kind of livestock." In the
wake of the tragic deaths involving school bus accidents in
Oregon in recent years it is understandable that a driver would
become alarmed about hazardous conditions he or she must drive
in or on. Even though other people and agencies may share an
equal amount of responsibility in any or all of the accidents, in the
final analysis snorts Weatherford. "it's still the school bus
driver's neck." The driver will be either or both legally and
emotionally responsible should any form cf disaster result. After
all, the driver is the only person doing the actual driving.
"These roads were built in the 20's for the Model T and ears
like that." he says. "There is a three inch strip painted down the
middle, there's three inches they have taken away from me."
Illustrating his point Weatherford recalls, "there's plenty of
room for a car even though a lot of them drive over the yellow
line in the center anyway."
This hazardous road condition is no passing interest of
Weatherfords. Since he began as a driver five years ago his
awareness of the problem has prompted him to write two
different letters to the state highway department He gave a
copy of the letter to Rep. Jack Sumner and Gov. Straub I
personally. .
Realizing the state's position Weatherford notes, there is of
course the state side of the coin which has 38 counties all asking
for the same thing. They have done some work on portions of the
road like widening some corners and that really helps, the road
crew has done a heck of a job with what they have to work with.
Tm not complaining about them. Tm simply laying the whole
blame on the state." '
Oregon school bus drivers are required to take refresher
courses from the State School Bus Drivers Training Program.
It's a program drivers appreciate, says Weatherford. "I haven't
found a bus driver that has ever regretted going through a
retraining course. As far as being tested about my driving if it
ever bothered me then that's a perfect example for a reason to
quit" 1
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Weatherford, who claims to have driven over a million miles
' in the course of his lifetime, says he has, "learned to use all my
eyes while driving. You know what's around and your eyes pick
up anything different Kke cows or deer or trucks." This is an
important ability for a driver especially in Weatherford case
because as he states, "there's the yellow line to keep track of but
sometimes I don't dare look at it don't dare look at anything
except this road." '
The concern is certainly warranted especially since the
cbfldren he transports belong to other people. People who live in
his community, reopie ne nuw uj ,
A a a rault of the Oretron school bus accidents, SUte School
Superintendent Verne Duncan recently appointed a blue ribbon
committee headed by former Congresswoman Edith Greene to
invMtinte the aute's school bus safety practices. Hopefully the
investigation will also entail aU possible contributing factors to T
possible accident situations. It's not a simple matter of a bus .
driver at fault In Heppner's esse It may be the treacherous road d l
thst is to blame for any future mishap, hopefully miner". That is i 1
why Bill Weatherford must take a little time at the end of each
day's route to breath out a prayerfully heM bream ana say io
l If atI7.ll ... mstM trin without kill '(HL
DunKu. "t vu -v
Boardman receives $898 check
Boardman City Manager
Jim Thompson said Tuesday
the general fund was in the
best shape it ever has been
espwially with the receipt of
tax monies and revenue shar
ing dolla quarterly. Helping
things along was a $898
anti recession check received
this past week.
The council set a hearing
for Its first meeting In Janu
ary to hear a request from
George Hansen concerning a
blanket reduction in property
sites. Hsnsen Is currently
developing a sits esst of
Boardman. "Five homes hsvs
been sold on ths site already."
relates Thompson.
The corner of East Colum
bia and N. Main streets, a
particularly hasardous point
during harvest time when an
estimated 700 trucks a day
turn there, was felt by the
council to warrant being wid
ened. It will approach the
Morrow County School Dist
rict concerning that decision
as the project would Involve a
small section of school proper-
Port
orders
Ths Port of Morrow board,
at Its last regular meeting.
Instructed Its attornsy to
obtain a court restrsining
order In the vent the Stats
Highway Division started to
remove gravel from the port's
best 40 acre site within the
f.iod proressln park.
Ths commission purchased
(he land from the Corp of
Engineers In 1IW7 snd ths
suit's gravel permit did not
appear ss an enrumbersnce In
its deed.
The Port of Morrow offered
an eschsnge site. In W2. 1
e desireabte kwslktn at tht
park whirh rejected by
the (!.
ty-
The change would Involve
moving the curb and fire
hydrant on that corner back.
The total amount of school
property being sought would
be 100 to 200 square feet
A request by HYW Taxi
through John Childers. for a
taxi franchise was tabled. It
wss pointed out thst offering
a frsnchise was not in the
city's best interest st this
time. Also, it wss brought out
that one of the councilmen had
applied for such a franchise
several years ago. Further
study and investigation was
asked to determine whether
that application was still
vslid.
Come Have Fun,
at the annual
Thanlcsgiving weekend
Turkey Mop
Fairground Pavilion
Live Music by
Depot II
9:30-1 :30 am
Admission
Singles $2.50
Couples $5.00
Visit with your friends & help the
Soroptimists Scholarship Fund
I liM M S
on
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A SSj, (f A s M . n.
- , . o eo, Rump roast for s1.39r
J Cake mixes 58 it.y,
1 Oregon chief Sausage ?
j muffin mix 69 $ 1 . 1 9Ib S
j C S H Sugar I MS1 1
J Powdered 3 JlmM f
or 1 ib. for p-
J brown 1.00 Lettuce 3heads',J1 .00l
I Granulate J 1.88 Appjes
Peanut butter23 J .49 nolDo1' 5 ,bs. I
i cn,co RodRomo 5 1.00 I
C Prices effective L
Nabisco FrI. & Sot. Nov. 26, 27 h
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