Highway 101 is going to get a little safer where it winds through the community of Yachats on the central coast. A grant from the Oregon Bike / Ped Program will help fund bike lanes and sidewalks.
The $2 million dollar project will make it safer to walk and bike in Yachats which is bisected by busy Highway 101. It will include crosswalks with flashing lights, more parking and improved signage and drainage. Jerry Wolcott is with the Oregon Department of Transportation. He says the small coastal community gets lots of visitors from all over the world.
Wolcott: “Unfortunately, some of them come in there and they cross what they don’t know is U.S. 101 thinking more about that wonderful smell of coffee that’s coming out of the Green Salmon and not about the fact that they just stepped in front of an 18-wheeler that’s coming up the highway.”
The City of Yachats received a more than 1 million dollar grant for the project. ODOT is overseeing construction, which Wolcott says will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The safety improvement project is expected to be complete by Memorial Day 2017.
