By Gary Randall, For The Mountain Times
Highway 26. What can I say? The highway that bisects our communities connects us with the world, and the world to us. I say communities because we are more than Welches. We are Brightwood, Wemme, Welches, Zigzag and Rhododendron. At one time each of our little communities were autonomous but still connected, typically socially. We now identify as a single community.
I have been learning a lot lately about the development of the road to Mount Hood. From the ancient days of Native trails to the immigrant wagons to the early automobile period. From Sam Barlow’s days with the Mt Hood Toll Road, E. Henry Wemme’s purchase and upkeep of the road and the eventual improvements made when the road was deeded to The Oregon State Highway Division in 1919, when a road was envisioned that would encircle Mount Hood.
I read recently about a traffic jam in Brightwood at McIntyre Hill in 1912, when the old road, and the cars attempting to travel it, were very primitive. It was estimated that, on one sunny Saturday, between 300 and 400 automobiles were stacked up waiting for the others to climb, or be pulled by John McIntyre’s horse team, up the notorious McIntyre Hill, the worst part of the old road between Sandy and Government Camp. Apparently, traffic jams really are nothing new.
I remember the days before four lanes. I remember how, during ski season, the traffic would stop on the highway and people would get out of their cars for an impromptu snowball fight before the traffic started moving again. Busy traffic days are nothing new to Highway 26, but the amount of traffic and the speeds have increased since the four lanes have been constructed. It has truly turned into a freeway.
When the Highway Department was having obligatory public meetings during the widening project, several different plans were presented to subliminally slow the flow of traffic, even a slightly meandering road instead of one that is as straight as an arrow. Signs and features installed along the way to show that people are entering or leaving communities. None were of any interest to the highway department. Their first objective was to create a straight highway that would increase the flow of traffic to the ski resorts, and that is what we got. Our communities were in their way, the widening took place, and the road is increasingly more dangerous.
I realize that a four-lane highway was inevitable, especially when you have a steady increase in population, but I lament the way that this highway has taken away the identity of the communities that have been such an important part of Mount Hood’s history. I fear that our identity has been reduced to one of a strip mall on the side of a busy highway.
I did not sit down to write an editorial or an opinion piece, but I feel deeply that our communities are suffering from a lack of identity and nucleic representation to the county and the state, representation that understands the character and the needs of our neighborhoods. I am not sure what we can do about it. I do not claim to have answers because it is a little late for any remedies that I might produce. The freeway is already built and the subdivisions from outside developers are knocking on our door, and the county is ready to issue permits and variances if needed.
My plea to our mountain community is to realize that we live in a vibrant, beautiful community with a rich history and traditions. It is a beautiful place to live that needs to be defended to maintain the quality of life we enjoy. Highway 26 and how it has developed is emblematic of the challenges we are going to face in the future.