By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
November 5, 2007
Federal and state agencies held the
first open house Monday to hear from the public what they think
of alternatives to fix Highway 35.
Following last year’s debris flows
that blew out part of the road, the federal government came up
with $47 million (use to include design and construction) for a
more permanent fix.
“Every three to five years these
(repairs) keep happening. The status quo just isn’t cutting it
anymore and it’s too important of a transportation corridor to
just continue to let it get beat up,” said George Fekaris.
He manages the project for the
Western Lands Federal Highway Administration. The agency is
working together with the Oregon Department of Transportation
and U.S. Forest Service.
Fekaris was at the Hood River Inn
Monday during the first open house in the process. At this
stage, the agencies are taking comments from citizens on the
draft alternatives which came out of a 2003 study. While that
study focused on seven areas, this project will concern only
three.
That includes the White River,
Newton and Clark creeks. Debris flows have come from the White
River Glacier and the river channel as far back as 1907 and
since 1978 for the Newton-Clark Glacier.
Agency records show complete
washouts of the White River Bridge or approaches have occurred
cyclically, including 2000 and 2006.
The draft alternatives focus on
steps to keep the current bridge over the White River, Newton
and Clark creeks in place but raise it substantially or shift
the highway upstream or downstream.
Fekaris said any potential move of
Highway 35 would require a much more substantial process since
it would involve federal forest lands and the federal Wild and
Scenic River Act.
“The 2003 study is certainly a
springboard but we know it’s an active mountain, alive and
kicking,” he said. “Our geo-tech people keep reminding us of
that.”
For the White River, those proposed
measures include separate alternatives such as raising the road
and lengthening the bridge, realigning the bridge upstream,
building a tunnel, encasing the highway, realigning the highway
downstream or building a bypass.
The alternative to relocate the
highway would use U.S. Highway 26 and sections of Forest Service
Roads 43 and 48 to bypass the White River site.
Alternatives for Clark Creek and
Newton Creek looked at placing large rocks (known as rip
rapping) along the existing stream bank and culverts, creating
an armored dry channel, building a bypass to relocate the
highway to the east side of the East Fork of the Hood River,
raising the roadway with intermittent channel crossings, raising
the roadway on a permeable embankment or building a bridge.
The agencies are accepting comments
on the draft alternatives until Dec. 15.
