| ODOT keeps Prineville up-to-date with new bridge. |
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| Replacement of Ochoco Creek Bridge helps Prineville keep pace with the times |
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Prineville when the Ochoco Creek Bridge was built
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When the Ochoco Creek Bridge on U.S. 26 in Prineville was built more than 80 years ago, women had only just won the right to vote, and the pickup truck had not yet been invented.
Times have certainly changed, and the city has gained in importance. It is still a transportation nexus for ranching and logging operations that need to haul their products from the Ochoco Mountains east, but now it is also a gateway to those mountains for sightseers and hikers: At least three destination resorts are being considered for surrounding Crook County. So a new bridge, built to expanded contemporary weight requirements, is going to help the city stay current with changing economic times.
“Keeping the infrastructure in good shape is about more than mobility,” said Peter Murphy, Region 4’s public affairs representative. “Up-to-date roads and bridges bring new people to town and show them that locals care about their community.”
When plans to replace the Ochoco Creek Bridge as part of the OTIA III bridge program began, project staff started, as always, by consulting Prineville’s approximately 7,000 residents about their concerns.
Approximately 12,000 vehicles use the bridge every day. Because the bridge is adjacent to several businesses and the Crook County Middle School, everyone’s top priority was to keep the bridge open at all times. Yet no one wanted a detour route that would send freight trucks and travelers through Prineville’s residential streets and school zones. ODOT, the Prineville city government and local school district officials agreed that staged construction was the ideal solution: It would allow the agency to keep traffic moving across the bridge in both directions without the use of an alternative route through town.
“Staged construction is like a jigsaw puzzle; we’ll start working from the outside in,” said Assistant Project Manager Pat Cimmiyotti. “In the first stage, we’ll put traffic in the center of the existing bridge and build the outside. Once the outside is complete, we’ll put traffic on the outside and build the center portion of the bridge.”
When the bridge is finished, Prineville will gain a structure that fits the current times: It will be wider, with an additional left-turn lane and eight-foot-wide shoulders with barriers to protect pedestrians from travel lanes.
Prineville has a history of taking its economic destiny into its own hands. Though it was already a major hub in central Oregon when rail track from The Dalles was extended south in 1911, the city was bypassed in favor of Bend and Redmond. Undeterred, in 1917, residents raised the money to build their own railroad, connecting to the main line 19 miles away.
Today that investment is paying off: Because it is already a multimodal distribution center, Prineville recently earned $3.5 million in ConnectOregon II funds to expand its freight depot’s capabilities with additional warehouse space and a bulk trans-load facility. The new Ochoco Creek Bridge will be part of an increasingly crucial element in transportation—seamless connectivity for delivering goods and services efficiently, and one more element in ensuring the vitality of Central Oregon’s economic base.
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