Cedar Springs Road ready for changes

Before Waste Management came to Gilliam County, Cedar Springs Road was one like any other. Two lanes and gravel, the road was used by area farmers and some fishermen that were headed to the John Day River.

But over the years, Cedar Springs Road has been used heavily as the Columbia Ridge Waste Management site has grown.

With contracts from Portland Metro and Seattle, the Columbia Ridge landfill is the county's largest employer.

At the joint work session on February 22 between the Columbia Ridge Citizens Advisory Committee and the Gilliam County Road Committee, the Cedar Springs Lane Relocation project was discussed at length. The project would include a complete rebuild of the road south of the Union Pacific tracks and would address traffic wait times at the railroad crossing.

The County Court heard from Gilliam County Road Master Dewey Kennedy on March 20, who shared his thoughts on the relocation project. Kennedy said that the initial estimates for surveying, engineering, environmental assessments, and archeological review would cost approximately $2.76 million.

In addition, Kennedy said that the road would need to go through a portion of an existing landowner's property. That landowner said that he has a well that he wants to have refurbished and to guarantee grazing rights for cattle.

Kennedy estimates that it would take approximately 75 days to complete "from grub to stripes and site posts." The job would be completed in full spring-summer work schedule, and could potentially start in 2026.

Another option is to talk Waste Management into paying for a new road.

Dewey Kennedy said that his crew could do a patch and repair of Cedar Springs and could ask Waste Management to build a new road for its operations.

"If we can fix the existing road, then we could ask Waste Mgt to build new road," he said. The estimate for repairing Cedar Springs is currently $1.35 million, Kennedy said.

This effort has been several years in the making but there continues to be newfound urgency to act.

Last year, Waste Management applied for and received permission to expand their conditional use permit – nearly doubling their property. With the potential of more jobs and funds for the county, the deal was celebrated by most people in the area. However, there were questions about the road at Cedar Springs and how a bad situation could become worse.

Marta Mikkalo, who is Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee, said that it is time to get this done as soon as possible.

"We know the site is going to be in existence for another 140 years," Mikkalo said. "Trains are getting longer, some are over a mile long."

Wait times at rail crossings have created problems for motorists and pedestrians in Arlington, and for workers going to the Columbia Ridge Landfill.

Walsh Trucking, which contracts with Columbia Ridge, hauls waste from Portland. It is common that trucks are waiting to cross the tracks on Cedar Springs, and at times, for vehicles to be cued up to Highway 19.

The court agreed that it is time to get a meeting with the County Court, Waste Management, landowners, Road Master, Advisory Committee, and Road Committee to identify next steps.