Byline: The Register-Guard
If the Oregon Department of Transportation ever wants to figure out why it's one of the state's least popular and understood agencies, it should do a case study of its plan to designate the McKenzie Highway a "freight route."
Residents who live along the narrow, winding scenic highway, also known as Highway 126 East, were recently surprised to learn that their road was among several stretches of state highway in Lane County proposed as official state freight routes.
Understandably alarmed at seeing their highway, which already carries a heavy and sometimes dangerous mix of local, tourist and regional traffic, added to the …
