| 7/29/2010 1:47:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Campaign begins to bring travelers to the coast during tunnel construction
ODOT to visit Cannon Beach and Seaside during the next two months
Cannon Beach Citizen
CANNON BEACH - The message is this: The coast is clear.
It will stay clear, too, even during the winter when repairs begin on the Dennis L. Edwards Tunnel. Representatives from the Oregon Department of Transportation already are delivering that message to coastal visitors.
Two ODOT representatives set up a table and posters at the Cannon Beach Farmers Market Tuesday and handed out flyers along with coffee as shoppers stopped by to learn more about the repairs.
The flyers tell people that tunnel repairs will begin this winter and will be completed by the summer. But, they say, U.S. Highway 26 will remain open on weekdays and weekends and will close only on weeknights. Maps on the flyers show a nighttime detour route.
Construction maps showing the locations of 38 highway projects from Astoria to Hood River and the Nehalem Highway to Oregon City also will be available at state parks.
ODOT will return to Seaside during Seaside Beach Volleyball weekend Aug. 12 through 15 and during the Hood to Coast Relay Aug. 28. Another trip to the Cannon Beach Farmers Market is planned Sept. 21 as well as a summer excursion to the Manzanita Farmers Market.
"We made a commitment to the community, and we didn't forget," said Brad Wurfel, strategic communications coordinator for ODOT. "There will be a lot of TV, print and radio ads, too."
The commitment to conduct a public awareness campaign was made by ODOT Region I Manager Jason Tell after several tense community meetings with ODOT last winter.
Business operators worried that proposals to increase the tunnel's height so trucks taller than 14 feet high could pass through easier would close U.S. Highway 26 entirely for nine weeks next year. The potential closure would have been devastating to many businesses, they told ODOT officials.
But in a surprising decision last March, Tell announced that the tunnel's height wouldn't be increased and that the only closures would occur on weeknights for 12 weeks. A nighttime detour around the closure will be open on Timber Road and Oregon 47 and is expected to add 20 minutes to the driving time.
Tell also promised that the public awareness campaign would incorporate the tourism industry and target media throughout the region. "The public will be reminded that 'the coast is open for business,'" Tell said.
During their first visit to Cannon Beach Tuesday, Wurfel and project communications coordinator Kimberly Dinwiddie fielded questions about the tunnel's condition and whether it was safe to drive through now. The representatives assured those they talked to that the 69-year-old tunnel was safe.
When repairs start next January, workers will reline the tunnel, upgrade its drainage system and replace the lighting.
The tunnel will be closed about 10 hours a night from Sunday through Thursday nights for 12 weeks but will remain open on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as weekdays, weekends, holidays and during spring break.
"We met with 200 people at least," Wurfel said. "We were very pleased with the (number of) people who stopped."
While listening to Wurfel and Dinwiddie, many people sipped coffee handed out to them; the cups had specially-designed sleeves with ODOT's "tripcheck" website (www.tripcheck.com) on it to remind them that they could check road conditions and delays any time.
"We talked to a lot of people who live on the other side of the Coast Range and come here every summer," Wurfel said. "A lot of folks weren't even aware of the project."
But local residents and business operators he talked to were aware of it, "and that makes it even more important for us to be around," he said.
Wurfel saw some familiar faces from last winter's meetings. Only one person seemed angry, but that was about the flooding problem on U.S. Highway 101 between Cannon Beach and Seaside, he said.
Overall, "We had a warm reception," Wurfel said. "I saw lots of smiles."
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