By Sierra Lauder, Director of Events and Downtown Development, Tillamook Area Chamber of Commerce
Night striping with some flagging has gone smoothly, with things wrapping up slightly ahead of schedule. Lanes and arrows are all down, including the much anticipated new “sharrows” throughout town.
A “sharrow” reminding cars to be on the lookout for bicyclists, which share the traffic lanes in town. The lighter overspray will fade quickly.
The lights at Pacific and First were set earlier this week, with some new signage on the right side of the road to help identify which lane does what. The lights at the intersection of First and Main will be transferred over to the permanent configuration in the next few weeks. In the interim, if you are confused or the directions seem conflicting: follow the signals and the signs on the light poles. Be careful, attentive, and patient as the new pattern becomes routine.
Also a big milestone with the striping: Front Street is open to business as usual! You can head westbound there if you are coming south over the bridge from North Main and wanting to scoot to the west side of town, or if you’re on the west side of town and want to get out in to southbound traffic, you can use Front Street to turn on to Main St southbound. Front Street will not be helpful to you if you are looking to go north.
Crews are active again downtown! The demolition of the northside of the block between Second and Third took place Tuesday, so access to all of the business along that block is from the rear: Chamber Headquarters, Dutch Mill, Kitty’s Food and Spirits, and Anderson Florists (their rear door is on Second Street near Sarasota’s. The forming of the sidewalk that connects the stretch in front of Tora Sushi to the Dutch Mill will be complete by this weekend, so front entry will be open again to the Chamber of Commerce and Dutch Mill by Saturday. There are no unexpected surprises in the newly excavated area, so the reforming, grading and concrete work for the curb, gutter, and sidewalk should wrap up within the next two weeks. Work on the block between First and Second in front of Fat Dog and Vapor Voodoo will wait until that corner by Anderson’s on Second is complete so that pedestrian crossing of Main at Second remains viable.
Meanwhile, starting next week, the excavation of the large bioswale that will sit on Third St at the corner of Main along the currently vacant Beal’s Building will begin. Traffic flow eastbound on Third will be shifted to the northern side of the street, and saw cutting and excavation will take place on the south side from the intersection corner reaching back toward the Elks building. Pedestrian access through the intersection will be on the north side, from the corner at Tora Sushi to Sunflower Flats, and then across to Homelife Furniture.
Enjoy all of this sunshine and beautiful weather. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out either by replying to this email, or giving me a call.
Be safe.