Fern Ridge Review
Sweet Lorane Community News
June 20, 2019
By Pat Edwards
Last night, Jim and I, along with about 65 other people, attended the meeting at the Lorane Grange to go over the planned restructuring of Territorial Highway between Gillespie Corners and Lorane. As I mentioned last week, Lane County has received funding to take over from the State of Oregon the oversight of the portion of Territorial Highway that goes through the county. The Lorane project, which will use up much of that funding, has been divided into four segments. Along each segment, the road will be widened to two 11-foot lanes with a 6-foot shoulder suitable for bicycle travel on each side.
The first segment, Stage 1, will begin next summer, 2020, with the rerouting and stabilizing of the curvy portion of a hill known as Stony Point which has been a maintenance headache for decades with the sinking of the pavement that needs frequent repair.
Stage 2, slated for the summer of 2021, is the Gillespie Corners portion where two bridges will be rebuilt and raised to deal with the frequent flooding during heavy winter rains. There’s also on-going discussion about possibly straightening some of the curves between Gillespie Corners and Easy Acres Drive.
Stage 3, scheduled for the summer of 2022, will primarily widen the road and straighten some of the curves between Easy Acres Drive and Stony Point.
The last segment, Stage 4, will widen and improve the route from the top of Stony Point to the intersection of Territorial Highway and Cottage Grove-Lorane Road.
Following the short presentation last night, everyone was invited and encouraged to go to the various stations that were set up around the room to talk with and ask questions of the Lane County Department of Transportation staff who were manning them. Each station represented a segment of the overall project.
The actual presentation itself outlined the scheduled plan as it stands now, but there will still need to be further surveying and a lot of right-of-way discussion between the property owners before specific plans can be solidified, so many of the questions cannot yet be answered until the preliminary work is done. Property owners of the earlier segments, however, were told that they will soon be contacted by a Lane County right-of-way representative to go over how their properties will be impacted by the current plan.
It was a good, informative meeting and many of those local residents in attendance seemed to be excited to finally have our visions and wishes for a good, safe road to travel on finally beginning to happen.
Representatives from some of Lane County’s bicycle community were equally excited about the impact the project will have on their own safety as well.
Here’s more information on the very popular 16th Annual Crow Car Show. It will be held this year on July 13, 2019 at Crow High School. After a one-year hiatus, they are bringing back the free pancake breakfast that will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. In addition, there will raffles beginning at 1:30 p.m., a fun Kid Zone that opens at 9:00 a.m. and concessions running from 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. Add all this to the 50-plus cars and trucks that have been pre-registered, and you’re bound to have an amazing day.
Volunteers are being recruited to help with the various activities. If you’re interested, please contact Marissa McNutt-Cooper, 641-517-6608, for more information. The event is sponsored by the Crow Booster Club and all proceeds go to the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District.
All Things Lorane 