CTUIR Gets $1M for Safe Routes Project on Mission Road

MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) will receive more than $1 million from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to transform part of Mission Road into a more community-oriented corridor.

According to ODOT, the $1,014,912 will fund a Safe Routes to School project along the rural highway by better accommodating various modes of travel as well as improving functionality, access and safety for residents and Nixyáawii Community School (NCS) students.

Alaina Mildenberger, Public Works office manager, said the project stretches from east of the four corners intersection at July Grounds Lane to the Mission Road/Highway 331 intersection. She added the 1-mile stretch will receive bike lane symbols and striping, two crosswalks across Mission Road with signage, a pedestrian beacon at Short Mile Road and two speed radar readers.

Mildenberger said the project’s scope aligns with priority projects in the CTUIR’s Transportation System Plan and Safe Routes to School Plan.

“This project will calm traffic and improve safety for all modes of traffic along an increasingly residential stretch of roadway,” she said. “These improvements will complement the last Safe Routes to School project that improved the Mission Road/Highway 331 intersection and constructed the walking path along Highway 331 connecting to the Nixyáawii Governance Center campus area.”

That $1.5 million project, completed this past June, provides foot and bicycle access to the NCS, Cay-Uma-Wa Head Start, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center and governance center. It covers approximately 1,700 linear feet and adds wheelchair accessible ramps and lighting.

As for the current project, Mildenberger said the next step would be to get the grant agreement processed with ODOT before bidding out the development for engineering design services.

“Upon the completion of an accepted design, we will be able to use the design to solicit bids for the project construction. If we can get the project bid by this time next year, we will attempt completion in 2026. That is only if we don’t have unexpected delays,” she said.

Mildenberger said when construction begins Public Works expects traffic congestion, however the roadway is central to the community and should provide safety for those who walk and bike to their destinations.

The Mission Road project is one of 28 Safe Routes to School projects the Oregon Transportation Commission approved on Jan. 16 as part of an investment exceeding $31 million. The projects focus on making travel safer within a 2-mile radius of schools, prioritizing under-resourced communities to ensure a safer journey for all students, according to ODOT.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is comprised of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes, and formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 Stat. 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the reserved treaty rights guaranteed under federal law.