After picking up my kindergartener from Clemens Primary School a few weeks ago, I was heading toward home on Chapel Drive when I came across a young teen walking alongside the road in a stretch with no sidewalk.
This young person heard a car coming up from behind and quickly stepped further off the roadway. But it sure made me think about what could happen if a kid has headphones on and isn’t completely aware of his or her surroundings, or a driver momentarily looks away to check directions on a dashboard touchscreen or cellphone and drifts toward the side of the road.
The Millpond Crossing housing development is responsible for putting in sidewalks in that location but as you might know, that’s a fairly slow-moving project. And there are a lot of kids that already live in the neighborhood.
To be fair, I don’t see large numbers of kids walking alongside Chapel — this teen was probably heading home after getting out of class at the middle school. From what I’ve seen, most kids head toward the Millpond neighborhood by walking behind public works and either hopping over a ditch (that’s often filled with water) or walking toward South 15th around the row of houses that line the north side of Timothy Street.
The same afternoon that I noticed the child alongside the road, I remembered that the city was in the public outreach phase of creating a Transportation Safety Action Plan. DKS, the transportation engineering firm hired for the project, put a survey online that allowed residents to comment on spots they see as problematic.
City Manager Chris Workman said a few months ago that the plan focuses on projects that eliminate “traffic fatalities, injury accidents and consistent near misses and real high-level problematic areas that can be solved with some type of engineering fix.”
DKS is the same engineering firm doing TSAPs for Corvallis and Benton County. Once community feedback and data analysis are complete, the Philomath City Council will work with a team that includes DKS, Workman and Public Works Director Kevin Fear to adopt a vision for the final TSAP.
Anyway, back to the survey. My comment was one of 64 collected (the survey closed at the end of February). A cool feature of the survey was a map, where you could click and comment. Many of those who provided feedback had concerns in various spots along Main Street — from folks accelerating too soon on the west end out of town to the need for left-turn lanes in certain sections along the eastern stretch.
Some folks would like to see upgrades on unimproved roads and a fair number had comments related to visibility issues because of factors like the natural landscape or difficult turns. And speed was mentioned — not only on the west end as I referred to earlier but where the lanes merge heading east or leaving town on South 13th.
The comments are not limited to concerns for drivers but also pedestrians and cyclists. For example, more than one person commented about the need for crosswalks on Applegate Street in areas from Seventh toward 10th. Various other observations in what are perceived as problem spots for those on foot were also shared.
Overall, from what I can see, the transportation engineer and the TSAP team have plenty of data to consider. I just scratched the surface in what I’ve mentioned. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this process.
2. Miller Timber featured in magazine
Philomath-based Miller Timber Services is getting widespread attention in the March issue of Timberline Magazine, which profiles the company as far more than a typical logging operation.
The feature, written by Tim Cox, highlights how Miller Timber Services has grown into a multi-faceted forestry enterprise with operations spanning timber harvesting, transportation, reforestation, mountain services and wildland firefighting. The company responds to wildfires across the country with 20-person hand crews and has provided firefighting services in regions from Alaska to Florida over more than three decades.
One of the more notable distinctions covered in the piece: Miller Timber Services operates the largest fleet of Ponsse machines in North America and was the first company to use the Finnish manufacturer’s tethered logging equipment — a system that allows harvesters and forwarders to work safely on steep terrain.
Senior Vice President Matt Mattioda, who oversees cut-to-length systems and serves as chief forester, spoke at length with the magazine about the company’s philosophy. “Our mission is to be the premier forestry services provider for our industry,” Mattioda said, describing a full-cycle approach from planting to harvest “with an eye to leave the forest better than we find it.”
The company was founded by Lee Miller, an Oregon State University forestry engineering graduate who started with a chainsaw and a pickup. Today, Miller Timber Services employs crews working across the western United States and partners with OSU and other universities on forestry research.
3. Scenic drive that goes through Philomath
The Marys Peak to Pacific Scenic Byway — which passes through Philomath — has been recognized by WorldAtlas as one of the eight most scenic drives in Oregon.
WorldAtlas, a longtime online geography and travel resource, published the list in late February. Written by Tanya Qiblawi, the piece goes into detail about the 72-mile route, which takes three to five hours to complete. The byway begins on Highway 34 near Corvallis and passes through Philomath before climbing the Marys Peak Access Road, winding past waterfalls and stonework lookouts to the 4,097-foot summit — the highest point in Oregon’s Coast Range. From there, the route follows the Alsea River to the Hayden Covered Bridge before ending in Waldport at the Coast.
The other seven drives on the WorldAtlas list are the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway, Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, High Desert Discovery Scenic Byway, Over the Rivers and Through the Woods Scenic Byway, Cow Creek Tour Route, Journey Through Time Scenic Byway and Myrtle Creek-Canyonville Tour Route.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).