Work has now begun on the realignment of Weirich Drive to provide direct access into Cheadle Lake Park.

A coalition of interested parties, including the Lebanon Community Foundation, Weyerhaeuser Company, the city of Lebanon, Alton Sullivan Construction, the Oregon Department of Transportation Rail Division and Linn County are cooperating to fund and construct the project.

When completed, Weirich Drive will no longer run through the Lebanon Lumber mill site but curve around it through the park, joining Highway 20 at the new rail crossing completed several years ago by the foundation and Sullivan. The goal of the realignment is to eliminate a dangerous rail crossing and highway access (at Weirich Drive and Highway 20), provide direct access into Cheadle Lake Park, and remove the hazard of a county road through the mill property.

It will also align the road with a planned intersection for Crowfoot Road at some future date.

Construction is expected to be completed by spring of 2007.

Ronn Passmore, spokesman for the Lebanon Community Foundation, explained that the project has been in the works for several years but finding adequate funding has been a problem.

&#8220Last year we received a $100,000 grant from Weyerhaeuser that made this action possible," he said. &#8220Without it, we had willing parties but not enough cash to make it happen."

The Weyerhaeuser Foundation grant was announced at the 2005 Weyerhaeuser's Star-Spangled Celebration and is not affected by the recent announcement of the closure of the Lebanon Lumber mill.

Passmore singled out the city of Lebanon and Public Works Director Jim Ruef for their key role in bringing all the interested parties together.

The Lebanon Community Foundation is a private, charitable organization working to develop Cheadle Lake Park as a community event center and recreation facility.

For more information, contact Foundation Executive Director Warren Beeson at

451-1039.