The thousands of vehicles that travel the 50 miles of U.S. Highway 20 between Newport and Philomath is a combustible mix of commercial trucks, buses, RVs, and passenger vehicles all in a hurry to get to their destination according to a detailed story by Yachats News.

These reports and surveys should be viewed with some skepticism. For example, they don’t appear to take into account out-of-state drivers. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have a great deal more concern about highway safety.

Late last week, I spoke to the Lincoln County realtors membership meeting about public safety. Among my observations – we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to turn Highway 20 from a slow, curvy, dangerous stretch of highway, into a straight, fast, dangerous stretch of highway. I say that following the deaths of eight people on Highway 20 between Newport and Philomath so far this year. That’s more than double the usual number of yearly fatalities with four months left in 2024.

The spike in fatalities along Highway 20 between Newport and Philomath has not gone unnoticed by state highway officials, police agencies, and anyone who drives it. But finding a solution is something else – and often takes years to implement. The 50 miles of U.S. Highway 20 between Newport and Philomath is a mix of narrow, twisting two-lane pavement, two wide lanes with an occasional third passing lane, and then sometimes four lanes with two going in either direction.

Traffic volume is increasing. No stretch of Highway 20 has barriers between east and westbound lanes. And that means when – for whatever reason – a driver has an issue they often cross over into oncoming traffic. Seven of the eight people who died this year were killed in four head-on collisions, according to state police records.

Highway 20 traffic counts near Blodgett shows a 30 percent increase in the past nine years from an average of 5,500 a day in 2015 to 7,200 in 2023.

Over the past few years, I have secured $3.6 million for the City of Waldport for wastewater plant repairs and water tank replacements. Friday I visited one of those projects with City Manager Dann Cutter.

The 300,000-gallon water tank was built to allow the city of Waldport to have enough water to take their 2 million-gallon water tank offline, while still having enough water to fight a fire. The large cobalt blue tank was finished this summer and is located at the city’s water treatment plant. The city’s 2 million gallon tank is being worked on actively (sanded and painted in the interior) and will be back online in the next few weeks. This investment in storage will serve the south Lincoln County community for the next several decades.

The wastewater plant improvements and lines will service city industrial lands which among other things, will now support a new county animal shelter. That shelter is scheduled to break ground in the next few weeks.

At 14,000 square feet, Louis Southworth Park may be the largest playground on the Oregon coast. I visited with primary volunteer contractor Jay Morris of Jay Morris Construction as he explained the 258 concrete tubes and drilling that needed to take place and the rock surfacing which must be leveled to allow the accessibility surface to be poured in mid-October. The city hopes that the playground portion of the park will be opened by the end of October if the weather holds. A great article on it is here.

While precipitation is increasing in most of the state, it’s not at a point where it’s actually putting the fires out. Firefighters remain hard at work containing them. The reports on the individual fires make it clear that we’re not yet at the end of the season.

• Stay up to date on active fires by visiting the Oregon Wildfire Dashboard managed by the Oregon Department of Emergency Management.
• Sign up for emergency alerts handled by your local law enforcement agency or sheriff’s office. You can sign up for alerts by the county on this website.
• Be prepared for evacuation orders by creating a checklist for things like food and water, medicine, emergency power sources, etc.
• Protect yourself from wildfire smoke by keeping an eye on the Oregon Smoke Information blog managed by the Department of Environmental Quality, also available in Spanish at Oregonhumo.org.
• Find information about cooling or clean-air centers by visiting 211info.org.

Staying prepared and informed can make a significant difference during wildfire season. Please share these tips with your family, friends, and neighbors to help keep our community safe.

None of the major fires is growing right now, and most are in the “mopping up” phase. Temperatures are cooling overall, and we’re benefiting from the days becoming gradually shorter. Fortunately, the strong east winds that are always a risk in early September have not materialized to date.

Fire activity has tempered across the state as rains and cooler temperatures have assisted firefighting efforts on the ground. While this has been a positive development, there are still 24 large fires on the landscape across Oregon. There is optimism that a corner has been turned on this fire season due to the change in weather conditions, but Oregonians should remain vigilant to prevent human-caused fires as the season continues. Resources on fire restrictions and prevention can be found here.

Legislators will be receiving comprehensive updates from the fire agencies during Legislative Days this week in several different committees.

OPI is an innovative program that provides limited in-home services to people who need help to continue living independently in their own homes. Those services include housekeeping, personal care, Meals on Wheels, case management, assistive technology and more. Project Independence was among the first programs of its kind when it was introduced in Oregon in 1975, according to the Health Authority. As it has expanded, it continues to be among only a few programs like it nationally.

Oregon is a great place to live and age in part because of programs like OPI. I see this approval from the federal government as an acknowledgment of the great work that we are doing.

Under the new expansion, individuals with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level will qualify. Applications for this expanded service may become available as early as spring 2025, so I’ll be sure to share more information about this program and the application when available. Stay tuned!

Saturday I had fun and helped raise some needed funding as auctioneer at the 50^th Anniversary Gala of the Central Coast Humane Society. Thursday morning I met with local realtors and Thursday afternoon, we visited businesses on Otter Rock. Wednesday I joined leaders from five statewide animal welfare organizations to discuss elections and future legislation.

There is no shortage of good organizations and people doing good work here in our vibrant district. Hope to see each of you in the near future.