{"id":10549,"date":"2018-06-09T16:38:47","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T23:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/?p=10549"},"modified":"2019-06-11T10:51:54","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T17:51:54","slug":"safe-highways-save-lives-the-latest-victim-of-the-mckenzie-highway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/safe-highways-save-lives-the-latest-victim-of-the-mckenzie-highway\/","title":{"rendered":"Safe Highways Save Lives – The Latest Victim of the McKenzie Highway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

Safe Highways Save Lives<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The Latest Victim of the McKenzie Highway<\/strong><\/h1>\n

by Scott Michael Rohter<\/p>\n

Dateline:<\/strong> \u00a0Oregon June 9th<\/sup> 2018<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Safety improvements to Oregon’s McKenzie Highway are not optional. They are necessary… critically necessary! They are\u00a0necessary\u00a0to\u00a0prevent people who travel this road\u00a0from dying… people like Kenneth Wayne\u00a0Brawn who was\u00a054\u00a0when he\u00a0drove his truck over the edge of the\u00a0highway and\u00a0down into the river last week.\u00a0His maroon pickup\u00a0was spotted\u00a0under the water by\u00a0an Oregon State Police officer near mile post 21 two\u00a0days after he was reported missing. His truck was pulled out of the water, Lane County Search and Rescue recovered his\u00a0remains, and now all that is left of\u00a0him is a\u00a0small memorial and a\u00a0cross\u00a0to mark the\u00a0place where\u00a0his vehicle went off the road.\u00a0\u00a0He is the latest victim of the McKenzie Highway, but he is not the only\u00a0victim and\u00a0he certainly won’t be the last !<\/p>\n

\"\"There are\u00a0other memorials\u00a0to other victims of the McKenzie Highway scattered along\u00a0its route to mark the\u00a0place where others died. If you look\u00a0you will see them,\u00a0yet\u00a0some people\u00a0still think\u00a0that this highway is safe when\u00a0that is really the farthest thing from the truth. \u00a0Some people call this highway\u00a0the “<\/em>Gateway to the Cascades”<\/em>.<\/em> It would be\u00a0more appropriate to call it\u00a0the McKenzie Highway the Gateway to Heaven. That’s\u00a0just how bad it is.\u00a0 In a little over a decade there have been\u00a0103 deaths on the McKenzie Highway, 5014 people injured and\u00a0 7,241 accidents. That is just for the\u00a0section of the highway that runs between Springfield and Redmond.\u00a0During the same period of time Floyd Prozanski has been a member of\u00a0the Oregon Legislature. He has been the Senator from this Senate District 4 since 2004.<\/p>\n

Safety improvements to the McKenzie Highway are\u00a0not optional. They are\u00a0urgently needed\u00a0to save lives.\u00a0 Safe highways save lives… They don’t just save\u00a0Republican lives.. They save\u00a0Democrat\u00a0lives. They save non affiliated voters lives. They\u00a0save peoples lives no matter how they vote or even if they vote. \u00a0By supporting safe highways\u00a0the\u00a0life\u00a0you save may be your own.<\/p>\n

The McKenzie\u00a0Highway was not built to today’s modern standards. It started in the 1800 ‘s as a\u00a0simple wagon trail\u00a0 winding through the McKenzie River Valley and following the\u00a0river. As the City of\u00a0Eugene\u00a0started to grow\u00a0that bumpy old wagon trail\u00a0became a gravel road, and then a paved road and finally in 1982 under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act it became a federally designated trucking route and a member of the National Network<\/a> of highways (NN). Over the years it has been\u00a0relied\u00a0upon to handle greater volumes of traffic at ever increasing speeds\u00a0by larger and\u00a0larger commercial vehicles.\u00a0 Along with\u00a0this increased traffic\u00a0came the development of homes along the\u00a0river. Today 18 wheelers are barreling through residential neighborhoods that line the river at over 70 mph regardless of the weather conditions or\u00a0the time of day.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I drive this highway almost every night.\u00a0The speed limits are\u00a0posted but they are almost never enforced because there are almost never any Oregon State Police officers around to enforce them. That just enables\u00a0motorists to drive faster than they should. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"There isn’t a single reflector along the fog lines to mark the edge of the road between Springfield and McKenzie Bridge. There are no rumble strips anywhere along the entire length of the highway, and there are no guard rails where they are desperately needed like the place where Ken Brawn just drove his truck into the river, or the place where Brandon Stansell rolled his pickup truck into a telephone pole\u00a0and died.\u00a0 The lack of these basic safety features\u00a0poses a real threat to anyone who\u00a0uses\u00a0the McKenzie\u00a0Highway.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

There is plenty of blame to go around. Drivers\u00a0who speed, or\u00a0drive tired or drunk are\u00a0not without blame, but the State of Oregon is\u00a0not\u00a0completely innocent either. It has failed to\u00a0install\u00a0even the most basic safety features that are found on other highways.\u00a0\u00a0ODOT doesn’t think it is its responsibility to do anything more than post the speed limits which almost nobody obeys, and the lack of law enforcement along the highway\u00a0simply encourages people not to obey them. <\/span><\/p>\n

The lack of\u00a0modern safety\u00a0features like reflectors along the edges of the road, rumble strips along the fog lines\u00a0as well as\u00a0the center line and guard rails where they are desperately needed poses a\u00a0life and death threat not only to\u00a0everyone who drives the highway, but it also poses a serious threat\u00a0to the water supply for 120,000\u00a0people living in Eugene who are the customers of EWEB.<\/span><\/p>\n

The greatest\u00a0 threat to the Eugene municipal water supply isn’t\u00a0from an impending earthquake.\u00a0 It isn’t the aerial spraying of\u00a0commercial herbicides used in the routine management of\u00a0private forest land. The greatest threat to Eugene’s water supply comes from\u00a0a tanker truck loaded with toxic chemicals, radioactive waste, or hazardous materials winding up in the McKenzie River. If that ever happens the McKenzie River would never be the same again and neither would\u00a0Eugene’s water supply. You could kiss the reputation of the McKenzie River good bye forever… and with that would go the tourist industry…. all the river rafting and drift boating and fishing… gone forever !<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"I <\/span>knew I had to do something\u00a0when a gasoline tanker drove off the\u00a0highway and crashed\u00a0last June\u00a0leaking two thousand gallons of gasoline near a small tributary of the McKenzie River. That cleanup took weeks and cost millions of dollars.\u00a0 The company that owned the tanker\u00a0also owned\u00a0another\u00a0tanker that\u00a0crashed less than a year\u00a0earlier on Highway 58.\u00a0 That crash resulted in an fiery explosion that burned for hours\u00a0and led\u00a0to\u00a0the driver’s death.\u00a0 He\u00a0was burned to death inside\u00a0the cab. The\u00a0same company also owned a propane storage facility in La Grande Oregon which suffered a propane leak resulting in\u00a0the destruction of the entire facility. These three major accidents all occurred within a one year period\u00a0and yet the company responsible for\u00a0them, Ed Staub Trucking LLC was still being allowed to operate\u00a0in Oregon. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I called Senator Lee Beyer’s office. He is the head of the Transportation Committee in the Oregon Legislature. He didn’t\u00a0return my\u00a0phone call…\u00a0I\u00a0called ODOT and told them that this gasoline\u00a0tanker crash and leak\u00a0along the McKenzie Highway should be a wake up call for them.\u00a0 They said,\u00a0“What do you mean?”\u00a0 <\/em>That’s when I knew that that something was terribly wrong so I decided to run for State Senator from District 4 which includes the McKenzie Highway.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is time to fix what is wrong with the McKenzie Highway. It is a critical link between\u00a0Bend and Interstate 5, between central Oregon and the Willamette Valley. It is time to install the basic safety features\u00a0that are found along\u00a0other heavily used highways before someone else dies or another tanker truck loaded with\u00a0gasoline winds up in the\u00a0river.\u00a0 After I got\u00a0off the phone with\u00a0the Oregon Department of Transportation\u00a0I called EWEB and they told me not to worry about a gasoline leak in the river. They said “oil floats”<\/em>,\u00a0 and “t<\/em><\/span>hey would collect it downstream.”… <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Well here is a newsflash. Oil might float, but toxic chemicals don’t\u00a0necessarily float.\u00a0Hazardous waste\u00a0and radioactive materials don’t float and they are all being hauled up and down the McKenzie River.\u00a0 Anyone who lives along the McKenzie\u00a0highway or who\u00a0drives\u00a0it at night. or on a daily basis knows\u00a0 how dangerous\u00a0the road\u00a0is, and anyone living in Eugene who doesn’t\u00a0know it is just\u00a0plain clueless.\u00a0 It just takes one deer to jump out in front of your\u00a0car\u00a0at\u00a0a place in the road where there is no guard rail\u00a0and\u00a0only one\u00a0foot of asphalt on the other side of the fog line separating\u00a0you from a\u00a0watery grave. You\u00a0would\u00a0experience\u00a0your\u00a0 own little highway to Heaven. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"Only\u00a0an occasional\u00a0weekend motorist\u00a0and my opponent\u00a0Floyd Prozanski could be so oblivious to the\u00a0very real\u00a0danger that\u00a0this highway\u00a0poses to\u00a0public safety whether it is\u00a0the average motorist or the customers of EWEB who drink the water out of the McKenzie River.\u00a0 The McKenzie Highway’s designation as\u00a0part of the National Network and a federally designated trucking route is not compatible with its\u00a0function as a residential road\u00a0for\u00a0the people who live along the\u00a0river, nor is the\u00a0McKenzie Highway’s use as a commercial trucking route compatible\u00a0with the McKenzie River’s\u00a0function\u00a0as the primary water source for the City of Eugene. It is not compatible with the McKenzie Rivers\u00a0function as a\u00a0valuable\u00a0fishery or it’s attraction as a tourist destination either. The time\u00a0has come to petition\u00a0the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to have the McKenzie Highway removed\u00a0from the National Network<\/a> and\u00a0unlisted as a federally designated trucking route.<\/span><\/p>\n

Floyd Prozanski has been a member of the Oregon Legislature since 1993.\u00a0 He has been the State Senator from District 4 which includes the majority of people living along the McKenzie River\u00a0since 2004. He is or has been the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Vice Chairman of the Task Force on Public Safety, and the Co-Chair\u00a0\u00a0of the Marijuana Committee…\u00a0(and yes the Oregon Legislature unfortunately does have a Marijuana Committee).\u00a0There have been at least 103 deaths, 5,014 people injured, and 7,241 traffic accidents on the McKenzie Highway between Springfield and Redmond during the time that Floyd Prozanski has been in the Oregon Legislature, and he has\u00a0done absolutely nothing about it. He has done\u00a0nothing to improve the safety of one of Oregon’s most dangerous roads.\u00a0Floyd Prozanski\u00a0is more concerned about whether people get fired for smoking dope on the job than whether they get killed driving back and forth to work on the highway.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Wayne Brawn\u00a0drove his truck\u00a0off the road and into the river early on the morning of May 23rd. He was heading westbound when his truck crossed the center line and\u00a0the oncoming lane of traffic and tumbled\u00a0over a steep slope\u00a0into the River. If there would have been a rumble strip on the center line it would have woke him up if he was driving tired, but whether he was asleep or he had a stroke or even if he was driving drunk a guard rail along the fog line would have probably\u00a0saved his life.<\/p>\n

\"\"Today there is a small memorial\u00a0about fifty feet from\u00a0the\u00a0spot where his vehicle went off the road. There were no reflectors, no rumble strips, and no guard rail\u00a0there to protect him. I placed a small road sign at the exact\u00a0place\u00a0where\u00a0his wheels left the pavement. ODOT said\u00a0my sign was in the right of way and\u00a0it\u00a0represented a danger so they removed it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My sign is not dangerous. Their road is dangerous.\u00a0 My sign just calls attention to this danger.\u00a0 It reads SAFE HIGHWAYS SAVE LIVES, Scott Rohter for Oregon Senate.com<\/a><\/p>\n

I am running for State Senator to replace a man who has been\u00a0in the Legislature\u00a0for over two decades… a man who spends more time worrying about how the State can make money from the sale of marijuana than he does about how many people die\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0highways in his district. Twenty three years is a long time. It is long enough to do something about the McKenzie Highway. Now it is time for a change\u2026 A man who cares more about making money from marijuana than he does about your life should not be re-elected.<\/p>\n

Furthermore Floyd Prozanski\u2019s list of special interest groups and political contributors which support him reads like a Who\u2019s Who\u00a0of\u00a0 corporate America. Phillip Morris, Kraft Foods. The list goes on and on. Among some of the lessor know businesses that support him are all of those\u00a0cannabis growers which stand to benefit from his position as the Vice Chair of the Marijuana Committee. These political insiders aren\u2019t donating money just because they like the way that he talks. They expect something in return for their campaign contributions and they obviously get it or they\u00a0would not be re-appearing\u00a0as donors to his political action committee every year\u2026 From the AFL \u2013 CIO to the Union of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, to the powerful Phillip Morris Company to\u00a0 small time local cannabis growers Floyd Prozanski is\u00a0bought and paid for by unions and big and small businesses alike and others who expect something in return for their continued financial support\u2026\u00a0 I am not raising a single dime to finance my campaign. I will stick to raising awareness of important issues like the safety of the McKenzie Highway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Floyd Prozanski has been a member of the Oregon Legislature since 1993. He has been the State Senator from District 4 which includes most of the people living along the McKenzie River since 2004. There have been 103 deaths, 5,014 people injured, and 7,241 traffic accidents on the McKenzie Highway between Springfield and Redmond since Floyd Prozanski was elected to the Oregon Legislature, and he has done absolutely nothing about it. He has done nothing to improve the safety of one of Oregon’s most dangerous roads. The latest person to die is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,6],"tags":[863,864,865],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10549"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10770,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10549\/revisions\/10770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lessgovisthebestgov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}