Court Street reconstruction project set to begin next year
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A major road proj
ect to straighten and widen
Court Street is set to begin in
2009. Substandard roadway
alignment, poor pavement
condition, and pedestrian
safety are problems that w ill
be fixed with the project.
The section o f the Heppner
H ighw ay travels through
a residential area, a school
zone, and the local County
fairgrounds in Heppner.
In the plans, side
walks and parking will be
replaced or extended on the
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Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 127
NO. 13
8 Pages
Wednesday, March 26,2008
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
National Guard Chinook visits Heppner
students and community members
H ep p n er w as the
destination o f a CH-47D
Chinook H elicopter from
P e n d le to n on T u e sd a y
March 18.
The Ju n io r H igh/
High School students were
able to watch in admiration
as the large helicopter flew
swiftly overhead and then
circled back to complete an
awe inspiring landing. The
blades and the power it pro
duced as it landed pushed
against the students and
locals as they watched.
A fter the engines
wound down and the blades
slowed to a stop the Flight
Engineers, SGT Scott Sweet
and SGT R obert Dowell
were quick to open the air
craft so the excited students
could enter the aircraft.
E ven th o u g h the
weather was cool and rainy,
that did not deter members
o f the community and stu
dents from coming up and
having a walk through the
infamous Chinook.
The crew members
o f the Chinook slowed the
west and north or left side
o f the highw ay from begin
ning to end. If construct-
able some sidewalk w ill be
salvaged in specific areas.
Current elevated sidewalks
on the east side o f Court
Street will be replaced in
the first two blocks from the
connection of Hager Street
at the co u rth o u se to the
nearest Barratt Boulevard
connection. Retaining walls
will be built in these two
blocks to allow the w idening
o f the roadway and installa
tion o f new sidew alks at the
top o f the retaining walls.
These sidewalks will have
hand railing installed for
safety and be re-connected
to the current paths leading
to houses along this area.
Temporary easements from
residents will be needed to
build the retaining walls,
sid e w a lk s, and c o n n e c
tions.
Parking along the
west side o f the street w ill
c o n tin u e to be allo w ed
where possible. Parking
will continue to be provided
in the area o f the fairgrounds
where available adjacent to
the highway, to be used dur
ing events held at the com
munity football field and
fair grounds. The wide turn
around area across from the
fairgrounds will continue
to be used as an occasional
parking area.
The w estern most
approach to the fairgrounds
will be improved to continue
reasonable access to the fair
grounds at this location.
This connection to
the highway will need to be
moved to the east to improve
the sight distance for traffic
in proximity to the corner.
The w estern approach to
the fairgrounds is restricting
and major impacts would be
the result.
The east approach
will need m inor changes
mostly by altering the exist
ing fence and gateway to im-
This sharp curve by Heppner Elementary School will be
straightened out as part of the Court Street Project. -Photo by
Autumn Morgan
X*STP-SO-SOS2(018)
OF PROJECT
STA. 33.00 i'MP 4«..52)'
H .l-rirm ;
I p r e tti, v )r
.■ V
This map shows the beginning and ending points for the Court
Street Project.
prove the radius for trucks.
This has been identified and
discussed with County Fair
officials who are planning
to make this modification
on their own. Access and
drainage solutions in this
area will be developed in
cooperation with the Mor
row' County fair board.
A school crossing
w ill be b u ilt w ith signs
and a Hashing beacon to
encourage a safer area for
pedestrians. Drainage will
be addressed in the area of
the project from Stansburry
Street east to the project
limits.
Two d rain ag e fa
cility locations have been
identified on the County Fair
property, one at the west end
near the highway and the
new location o f the West
access and one near the east
access street.
R em oval and re
placement o f the existing
cyclone fence along the
fairgrounds is in connection
with the County Fair and it
is likely that the new fence
will not be in place during
the 2009 Fair. This fence is
currently used for control
o f patrons during fair and
football games. The special
provisions w ill need to iden
tify a no w ork period during
the Morrow County Fair and
Rodeo.
Additional right of
way w ill need to be a c
quired for the project. Fee
acquisition and temporary
easement w ill be needed for
construction. There are 20
different properties that w ill
need temporary easement.
The cost o f the proj
ect is 82,500.000.
lone students tour National Guard Chinook
A Chinook helicopter from Pendleton landed at HHS last
Tuesday. Students were able to tour the helicopter and as the
soldiers questions.
blades and opened the doors
to allow for inform ative
tours and close up views
o f the cockpit, belly, and
military who came in on the
helicopter.
T he s o ld ie rs that
supported this educational
event by answering ques
tions about the capabilities
o f the aircraft and an general
questions about the military
were: Chief Warrant Officer
4 Doug Walker (Test Pilot),
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tony
Easter Bunny makes
annual visit to Heppner
Addison Pace, 3, of Wilsons ¡lie spent some time with the
F.aster Bunny this past Saturday at the Faster F.gg Hunt
sponsored hv the Heppner Elks Lodge. Addison is the son
of C’hrisy Schultz of Wilsonville. He is the grandson of Re
ese and Linda Schultz of Heppner and the great-grandson
of Mable Heath. -Photo by David Sykes
M inkler (CH -47D Pilot),
Sergeant First Class David
McCurry (Readiness NCO),
Staff Sergeant Albert Smith
(Training NCO), Specialist
Michael Burton (Logistical
Operations), Specialist An
drina Taylor (Avionics Re-
pairer/Logistical Support)
and Staff Sergeant Daniel
A g en b ro ad (R e c ru itin g /
Retention NCO).
The stu d en ts and
community members were
inform ed about what the
aircraft and the soldier’s ac
complish locally in the state
o f Oregon when they are
not deployed for operations
overseas.
Fighting forest fires,
delivering relief supplies to
flood victims and rescuing
loss or stranded individuals
throughout the state are just
a few o f the peace time mis
sions of the Pendleton based
aviation units o f the Oregon
Army National Guard.
The Oregon Army
N ational G uard Aviation
Support Facility in Pendle
ton will be hosting an open
house on April 16, 2008
tour times will be: 9 a.m.-l I
a.m., 11 a.m.-l p.m., and 1
p.m.-3 p.m.
All are welcome to
come and see for themselves
what a wonder it is to have
such freedom.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
1
I
Third Grade Dami) Doherty grins while seated in a Chinook
Helicopter while classmate, Hanna Flynn, peaks around.
Seth Thompson gets help out
of the Chinook Helicopter that
landed on the lone Schools
football field on Tuesday
morning.
On Tuesday morn
ing, March 18, a Chi
nook helicopter from the
Pendleton National Guard
Station landed on the high
school football field at lone
Schools. Students were
Members of the kindergarten class at lone get their picture
allowed to tour the heli
taken in front of a Chinook Helicopter and with Sgt. Greg Cor-
copter and visit w ith the
taherria.
soldiers.
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242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)