6A • August 5, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
A way out of town during disasters
County looks at back
roads near Astoria and
Seaside as possible
lifelines
ies and actively pursue grant
funding.
As the county considers
the alternate and evacuation
routes, Summers said, some
of the routes could have insur-
mountable constraints such as
private property, wetlands and
historical site concerns.
“There is a fair amount of
public outreach that has to
happen,” he said.
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
Seldom used back roads
outside Astoria and Seaside
could offer a lifeline in a Cas-
cadia earthquake.
Clatsop County Public
Works is exploring ways to
create alternate and evacua-
tion routes and have identiied
several possibilities, including
some that are currently gated
off on private timberland.
County staff are proposing
upgrades to Pipeline Road
that connects Astoria to the
Svensen area, and the Lewis
and Clark Mainline that runs
outside Gearhart and Seaside.
Pipeline Road is an 11-
mile county road, with only
2 miles that are maintained.
Lewis and Clark Mainline is
an old logging road that cuts
along a ridge through the
county.
The total cost to revamp all
of the routes being looked at
is more than $40 million and
would add 40 miles to the
county road system.
“It’s a long range type of
a plan to go over a series of
years, but it would really be
an investment and provide
some increased emergency
and evacuation potential and
better logistical support,”
Public Works Director Mi-
chael Summers said.
Summers presented the
idea to the Clatsop County
Board of Commissioners last
week. He knows cities in the
county have their own trans-
portation plans, but he hopes
to work together with the var-
ious jurisdictions. The com-
missioners expressed their
support, calling the proposal
a good vision for the county.
“This is excellent, proac-
tive thinking,” Commissioner
No bypass
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
A car drives down Pipeline Road, a potential emergency
evacuation route, on Wednesday in Astoria.
SUBMITTED GRAPHIC
Clatsop County is exploring alternate and evacuation routes
on the North Coast.
Sarah Nebeker said. “It may
not meet everybody’s needs,
but I think it’s a great start.”
Funding plans
The county is planning a
work session this fall to talk
about different funding strat-
egies and options. Besides
seeking grants, Summers
said, the county could get
creative and fund the work
through a local gas tax or
bond measure. Each strategy
has positives and negatives,
he said.
Another option is to focus
on one project at a time. As
an example, making Pipeline
Road a viable route would
cost about $15 million.
The Public Works Depart-
ment recently submitted a
grant application to the state
to study tsunami evacuation
planning, which includes re-
searching evacuation routes.
If funded, the county would
receive $90,000 to complete
the work.
In the county’s budget,
the road division set aside
$50,000 to begin a feasibility
study for the alternate routes.
The funds could pay for a
consultant to help with stud-
Restoring Pipeline Road
and Lewis and Clark Mainline
would connect trafic to U.S.
Highway 30 and U.S. High-
way 101, while offering a way
around the congestion on the
highways.
The county’s proposal also
includes restoring the Fletch-
er Mainline outside Gearhart
and three evacuation routes in
Seaside that would connect to
the Lewis and Clark Mainline.
Bill Johnston, a state trans-
portation planner, said the
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation and city of Astoria
agreed two years ago that a
bypass could not be done in
the foreseeable future. In-
stead, the state and the city
put support behind upgrad-
ing existing rural roads as an
alternate route, rather than a
bypass.
A bypass is not part of the
county’s plans.
“We are not talking about a
bypass,” Summers said. “We
are talking about other ways
around town.”
From the state’s perspec-
tive, Highway 202 already
provides an alternate route
around Astoria.
“If the purpose of estab-
lishing an alternative route is
primarily to provide an escape
route in the event of a natu-
ral disaster, it may be a more
practical option to focus on
upgrading OR 202 rather than
constructing a new route,”
Johnston wrote to the city of
Astoria.
New alternative routes are
not a simple matter, Johnston
said, since there can be per-
mitting issues and geological
hazards that would make work
dificult.
“It’s a complicated issue,”
he said.
When considering the ben-
eits of new alternate routes,
some believe heavy semitruck
trafic will be eliminated
through downtown Astoria.
However, Johnston points out
that trucks will continue to
travel through downtown to
reach the Port of Astoria or the
Astoria Bridge.
“Rural roads have too
many sharp curves and steep
grades,” Johnston wrote.
Emergency responders do
see alternate routes as a major
beneit.
Knappa Fire Chief Paul
Olheiser said his coverage
area contains about six bridg-
es that have to be crossed to
serve the community. If the
bridges crumble in a natural
disaster, the ire department
will rely on alternate routes
such as Pipeline Road.
“I’m in mind to believe
those bridges are going to fail
(in an earthquake),” Olheiser
said.
Between the Knappa and
Svensen ire stations, road
construction is blocking por-
tions of U.S. Highway 30. For
construction or heavy trafic,
Olheiser said, other options
help emergency responders.
Often times, emergency crews
are able to get around such
delays, but sometimes they
cannot.
“If the county can igure
out a way to alleviate that,
that would be good for every-
body,” Olheiser said.
DINING
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SEASIDE
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NATIONALLY FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER • FRESH OREGON SEAFOOD
Local company paves the way to
raise chickens in your backyard
By Susan Romersa
For Seaside Signal
Jennifer Barrett and Chris
Rose have engineered a prod-
uct that they believe is just the
ticket for those wanting to raise
chickens in their own back-
yard. Their company, Hens’
Lodging Inc., is a wholesale
distributor of chicken tractors
and movable coops, portable
enclosures in which people
can raise chickens easily and
safely.
While the City of Seaside
has for many years banned
having chickens kept within
the city limits, chickens are
currently allowed in other ju-
risdictions along the coast,
including Astoria, Warrenton,
Gearhart and Cannon Beach.
Barrett, a Seaside resident
as is Rose, has petitioned the
Seaside City Council asking
to amend the city’s chicken
ban ordinance - as long as the
hens are contained in a chicken
tractor or similar structure, but,
so far, no changes have been
made.
The tractors offer three to
four hens protection from dogs,
cats, raccoons, and aerial pred-
ators such as hawks and eagles.
Having the chickens contained
in this manner eliminates prob-
lems such as chickens roosting
in neighbor’s yards, damag-
ing landscapes, wandering in
neighboring streets, and odors
from droppings. As the tractor
is moved from area to area, the
chickens forage and create us-
able garden space from what
was just weeds. The structures
are bottomless so droppings go
to the ground and are scratched
into the soil. Noise is con-
trolled by having only the four
hens and no roosters.
Chickens have free-range to
a degree within the conines of
their movable coop and seem
to enjoy the chicken tractor
that offers both covered pro-
tection and an outdoor exercise
area.
Why raise chickens? It’s
a growing trend with many
families – allowing them to
have fresh eggs, chemical-free
bug and weed control, free
fertilizer – and friendly pets
with their own personalities.
The hen tractor which offers
an enclosed area for feeding
and roosting, also has a secure
screened – in area for outside
scratching and digging for the
hens. The tractors are easily
moved around the yard, keep-
ing the chickens contained,
while preparing the ground
for planting and other uses.
ROBERT CAIN LD,
SUSAN ROMERSA/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Co-owners of Hens’ Lodging
Inc. Jennifer Barrett and
Chris Rose holding their sign
below the chicken tractor
they are distributing.
The unit is simply moved to
accomplish larger area prepa-
ration.
Barrett, who grew up in
Kansas in a farming communi-
ty, and Rose, who has been a
long-time local contractor, felt
that this convenient method of
raising hens would be popular
here on the Oregon coast and
elsewhere. A complete list of
seven available models and
pricing can be viewed and or-
dered online at henslodging.
com. These easy to assemble
units are delivered to your
door. If assistance is need-
ed (within a 50 mile area), it
can be arranged by calling the
company at 503 791-3666.
The company is located at
1000 S. Holladay across the
street from the Seaside Police
Department. Barrett, a master
framer, points out that even-
tually she will develop the
building there to include an art
museum and gallery. For now,
though, ordering the chicken
tractors online is the most con-
venient way.
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