The Bureau of Land Management has initiated a one year traffic study of the Yaquina Head facility in an effort to improve mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists. Yaquina Head attracts over a half of a million visitors annually, and visitation is expected to grow even more in subsequent years. This federally-funded project includes involvement from the City of Newport and ODOT. The concern is there are pedestrians that walk Lighthouse Drive, which can be a narrow area and the project looks to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe.
They will be looking also at the intersection at hwy 101 and Lighthouse Drive as there have been concerns over safety at the west end intersection. The City of Newport appointed Derrick Tokos Newport Community Development Director, to serve on a core project team to participate in the development of the plan, including participation of public meetings, review of proposals and draft documents, and other similar tasks.
ODOT will play a similar role in this study. The total federal funding available for this work is $485,000 to ultimately develop a master plan that outlines short, medium, and long-term improvements to all forms of transportation to this area. The study is expected to begin in the spring of 2021 with completion in the summer of 2022. This work will be completed after the City concludes its North side Transportation Plan and Update. The recommendations from this study will ultimately be incorporated into the City of Newport’s Transportation Plan System Update. The council unanimously approved for BLM to do the traffic study.
