WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
ODOT signal project
Zill iPproYe traI¿ c À oZ
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
A traffic signal upgrade underway
along Highway 395 in Hermiston should
result in smarter traffic control.
Tim Rynearson, District 12 assistant
manager for the Oregon Department of
Transportation, said the new signals be-
ing installed will switch traffic control
from weight sensors in the pavement at
intersections to video sensors, allowing
the system to sense the wider traffic pic-
ture and automatically adjust to the ebb
and flow of vehicles.
“With the new technology, it will be
able to sense the amount of traffic queu-
ing up, and the signals will be able to
communicate with each other,” he said.
That means the data being fed to a
traffic signal’s computer will include
not only whether a car is waiting to cross
an intersection right then, but whether
a line of cars will be waiting to cross
during the red light after that.
Rynearson said the new systems have
been successful in improving traffic
flow for other cities in Oregon, and he
expects to see improvements in Herm-
iston as well.
He said someone won’t be monitor-
ing the video feed 24/7, but engineers
will be able to pull up footage or ana-
lyze data to see if there are adjustments
that need to be made to the system.
“They will be able to connect to those
systems remotely,” he said.
The video footage will not be used by
police to issue traffic citations. Howev-
er, Rynearson said the footage will be
stored by ODOT.
He said the new system being in-
stalled by ODOT will also give the
department more options for signals
at every intersection along Highway
395, such as blinking yellow turn ar-
rows where before there was only a
solid light. Signals telling pedestri-
ans when to cross are also being im-
proved.
Beyond making room for a “smarter”
system, Rynearson said removing the
traffic loops embedded in the pavement
to sense cars’ weight will make ODOT’s
planned repaving project easier.
The department plans to do a full re-
paving project along Highway 395 in
Hermiston next summer.
The current traffic signal project is
expected to be completed in another
four to six weeks.
Planning commission
suggests changes to
landscaping ordinance
By JADE MCDOWELL
Staff Writer
The Hermiston Plan-
ning Commission is rec-
ommending the City
Council make changes to
a proposed landscaping
ordinance after holding a
public hearing.
The City Council will
hold its own public hear-
ing during its Aug. 24
meeting, but city planner
Clint Spencer said after
the commission’s rec-
ommended changes the
council could decide to
continue the hearing to
another date and time.
The ordinance as writ-
ten requires any new
development to be land-
scaped on 15 percent of
multi-family
residen-
tial property, six percent
in the C-1 Commercial
Zone, three percent in the
C-2 Commercial Zone and
three percent or 10,000
square feet of industrial
land. ,t also lists speci¿ ca-
tions for the type of land-
scaping that can be used.
Spencer said after
taking public comment
during its meeting the
Planning
Commission
recommended the fol-
lowing changes: Create
incentives for landscap-
ing, bolster enforcement
provisions, increase the
percentage of non-plant
cover allowed to count to-
ward the landscaping re-
quirement and allow xeri-
scaping (often referred to
as zero-scaping because it
is meant to survive with
no irrigation).
Spencer said about 20
people showed up for the
Planning Commission’s
hearing on the topic. Some
business owners have
complained that the re-
quirements are too much
of a burden for businesses
and should be relaxed to
take into account drought
conditions and other spe-
cial circumstances.
Spencer said the Aug.
24 hearing has already
been noticed and legally
must continue even though
more time will likely be
needed to come up with
verbiage to implement the
planning
commission’s
proposed changes.
As a result the coun-
cil could take testimony
Monday or could simply
open the hearing and then
immediately vote to con-
tinue the hearing to an-
other date and time.
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Keston Depner, left, and Keagan McCann demonstrate how a robot they created during
the robotics day camp at the Umatilla County Fair reverses when it reaches a wall during a
demonstration Saturday.
Participants enthusiastic
during fair robotics camp
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
Area students had the opportunity to build
a different set of skills at the Umatilla County
Fair this year.
,n the ¿ rst robotics day camp at the fair,
students entering grades six through nine spent
two days building robots out of LEGOs and
programming the computers that controlled
them.
Members of Umatilla High School’s
F,RST Robotics Club Team 4125 Con¿ den-
tial instructed the class Wednesday and Thurs-
day, and the children gave a demonstration
Saturday. Instructor Megan Lorence said the
participants were very enthusiastic.
“At lunch, they scarfed down their lunches
and went right to work,” she said. “I think they
loved it.”
The participants had varying levels of pre-
vious experience, Lorence said, but none had
worked with LEGO robotics before. The ro-
bots could be built with tracks or wheels and
used sensors that detected walls.
“We were able to give them that exposure,
and they caught on really quickly,” she said.
“It was fun to see them get it.”
Keagan McCann, an 11-year-old from
Hermiston, came into the camp with no ex-
perience, but Lorence said he quickly became
one of the best programmers at the camp.
“I’ve always looked at robotics stuff,” he
said. “I thought it would be cool to do.”
McCann and Keston Depner, a 12-year-old
from Hermiston, created a robotic tank with a
variety of accessories.
“Originally, we just were using the in-
struction manual to create a little car with
tank tracks, but we wanted something better
because what’s the use of having something
called a tank if it’s just tracks?” Depner said.
“So we put on the catapult, and later we added
the drill, and we put on all the sensors, and we
gave it the trailer.”
Depner, who had some experience with ro-
botics, said he learned a lot at the camp about
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
From left, Keston Depner, a 12-year-old from
Hermiston, and Keagon McCann, an 11-year-old from
Hermiston, look at the programming for the robot
they created at the robotics day camp at the Umatilla
County Fair during a demonstration Saturday.
programming and using the “brain” of the ro-
bot.
“You gotta have patience because some-
times it doesn’t work,” he said.
Lorence, who also teaches robotics to
younger students at the science, technology,
engineering and math after school academy
in Umatilla, said working on robotics projects
teaches students many skills applicable in oth-
er areas. Students learn how to complete goals
on deadlines and collaborate within a team and
with other teams, she said.
“We always say it’s more than just building
robots,” she said. “It’s about learning life skills
that can get you anywhere.”
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