SISTERS – It took very little time for a near-unanimous Sisters City Council to pick asphalt, rather than concrete, as the road surface to use in a nine-month road repair project that will start on downtown’s main drag this summer.

“It only took us about two seconds,” Sisters Mayor Lon Kellstrom said Thursday after the council voted 4-1 in favor of using asphalt to resurface a six-block portion of U.S. Highway 20 as part of the upcoming Cascade Avenue improvement project. Council President David Asson cast the lone vote opposing this plan.

City officials and the Oregon Department of Transportation spent nearly two years working on a plan to upgrade the portion of Cascade Avenue that runs through the center of downtown. Because the highway hasn’t been paved since 1996, its very foundation is falling apart.

ODOT originally proposeda concrete surface for the $6 million resurfacing project, which also includes plans to replace the downtown drainage system, curbs and gutters; widen its sidewalks; and install a series of new benches, light posts and trash cans that would give the area a new look.

The problem: The concrete option forces ODOT to close Cascade Avenue for five months. Highway construction crews would be able to do the remaining tasks – the curb and gutter work, the sidewalk extension, etc. – while the road was being resurfaced.

But many downtown business owners thought this pill too hard to swallow, especially as they struggle to recover from a sluggish economy and recoup the losses they incurred this summer because of the Pole Creek Fire.

“This town would not survive if we closed these streets for five months,” Jill Walden, co-owner of Sisters Log Furniture, said at an Oct. 17 public meeting about the project and its impact on the business community.

Because of those concerns, ODOT officials crafted a new road construction plan using asphalt as Cascade Avenue’s new road surface instead of concrete. They presented that plan to city leaders Oct. 17 and at a second hearing Oct. 25.

Though asphalt has its disadvantages – the material is less durable and harder to maintain than concrete, and it cannot be installed during the winter — using it as a road surface would allow ODOT and the city to close Cascade Avenue for a matter of weeks rather than months.

According to a draft construction plan submitted to the council, ODOT would close only a three-block stretch of Cascade Avenue for a few weeks in either March or April in order to rebuild the road foundation. It would spend the next few weeks replacing the road subsurface for the remaining three blocks of Cascade Avenue, during which time the previous section would be open to traffic. ODOT could pave both road sections at night.

The rest of the project’s work could be done in the months leading up to the actual road construction without forcing the city to close its main drag.

But while ODOT handled most of the construction planning process, the state highway agency let the Sisters City Council pick what surface it wanted to use because of its role as the local governing body. Kellstrom said most council members chose asphalt because it would have a small impact on the businesses downtown.

But not all agreed. Asson voted against the asphalt proposal and its longer construction schedule – nine months instead of five- even though the highway’s traffic flow would be uninterrupted for most of this time.

“I’m worried that would harm the businesses more,” he said after the meeting.

Construction schedule: 9-month project starting in late 2013

Upgrades to Cascade Avenue in downtown Sisters will start next summer and last for nine months.

Sept. 2 (Labor Day) to Nov. 15

* Curb and gutter systems will be replaced at night.

* Parts of the road will be patched for the winter, and truck traffic will be detoured around downtown.

Nov. 15 to Feb. 28

* Sidewalks will be widened from six feet to eight feet, nine feet in some places, on a block-by-block basis.

* Decorative paving stones will be added to their surfaces.

March 1 to May 31

* One three-block section of Cascade Avenue will be closed in both directions so it can be dug out and have a new gravel substructure, or foundation, installed.

* The second three-block section will have its substructure replaced while traffic will be allowed to flow through the first section.

* The road will be repaved at night once its both three-block sections have had their substructures replaced.

June 1 to completion

* The road will be restriped, and other final touches will be taken care of.