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Newport: NE 20th Street re-pave job expected to wrap up during the wee hours of Thursday

Jan 032013

Northeast 20th Street getting a new surface
Click on photos to enlarge

Residents who live along or use NE 20th Street were expected to wake up to brand new pavement in front of their houses or be able to drive on that new pavement enroute to Highway 101 to go to work, shopping or run errands. Northeast 20th traverses the north end of the Fred Meyer property and was shut down last evening while the street was given a new layer of asphalt from the signal light at 101 to Crestview. Crews from Road and Driveway and city public works employees prepped the street to get a thin layer of the surface removed and then further prepared to to receive a new new layer of asphalt. The paving job was expected to last until 2am or slightly later. Public Works Director Tim Gross said residents and shoppers accessing Fred Meyer will find a brand new road to enjoy. Gross said they’ll give the pavement a day to be driven on and then return on Friday to finish the stipping and re-pave operation on Crestview, to include Crestview Circle. Gross asks residents of that stretch of road and pavement to please not park their cars or other vehicles on the street Friday to accommodate the paving operation.

If all goes according to plan Gross says the whole NE 20th project should be finished by late Friday.

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Still waiting for the green light on “Business 20″ fix…

Roads/Highways, Toledo No Responses »

Jun 072012

Highway 20 Business Loop, slumping/settling between JC Market and Port Station One.

After re-driving a short stretch of Business Loop Highway 20 in Toledo, it appears to this writer that the road settling/slumping has perceptively worsened over the past couple of weeks. Toledo Public Works Director Adam Denlinger told his city council Wednesday evening that they’ve been told the road may have be re-built, beyond just a simple re-pave job. If that proves true, the cost could range between $300,000 and $500,000. At that cost both ODOT and the Federal Highway Administration would be chipping in 90% of that cost, leaving the city to cough up between $30,000 and $50,000.

Denlinger said he expects to hear very shortly what scale of work will be required. He said ODOT wants the road repaired before the winter rains begin.

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Lincoln City’s Schooner Creek Road re-opens today at 5pm!

Lincoln City, Roads/Highways No Responses »

Oct 182011

Evolution of Schooner Creek Road repair

A very costly repair to Schooner Creek Road is about to be wrapped up about a quarter mile outside the Lincoln City city limits. Construction crews report they will reopen the road at 5pm this afternoon (Tuesday). The costly repair job forced federal dollars to be infused into the project because local funds couldn’t do it alone due to the severity and complexity of the road rebuild. Crews had to dig down over 40-feet to find the bottom of the slide, and then fill it in with large rock and infill gravel.

Also during the repair, Lincoln City’s main water line from the Drift Creek Water Treatment Plant into town was threatened and so a near and far by-pass system was constructed to ensure water delivery to all of Lincoln City. The city’s main water line is now re-installed on the uphill side of the road, and, in the meantime, the city has constructed another major water supply line between the treatment plant and Highway 101 where it hooks into the city’s distribution system. So the town now has two major water lines supplying the town instead of just one. And they got federal funds to help them do it.

Again, the road reopens this afternoon at 5pm, according to Lincoln County Public Works who directed the project since the slide occurred outside the city limits.

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Lincoln City Public Works Director suggests new approach to fixing slumping roads.

Lincoln City, Roads/Highways No Responses »

Jul 262011

Slumping LC roads, top three. Below, examples of road fixes.

Lincoln City Public Works Director Lila Bradley presented a method of serious road repair that she thinks the city council should take a serious look at. It’s a method that combines regular shoring up of road bases but also with a reinforcing series of cemented-in steel inserts that keep the road stable. Bradley said that three local roads might be eligible for such a technology, including those pictured, SE 51st, SW Fleet and High School Drive. Bradley said she wanted the council to know that there are some new ways of fixing slumping roads, something that Oregon never seems to run out of. She said she would be back to the council in the near future with a series of recommendations on a number of road repairs that might include this new approach. She showed some examples (bottom six photos) in which the new road repair techniques have been applied elsewhere.

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Oregon gas taxes rising six cents a gallon January 1st

Roads/Highways, Taxes 1 Response »

Dec 112010

Although Oregon has one of the lower gas taxes in the country, it’s about to become closer to the national average. That’s because the state faces billions of dollars in transportation system repairs and upgrades that cannot be put off any longer. State transportation officials say, Oregon drivers will be paying a state gas tax increase of six cents a gallon starting January first.

Although there is plenty of debate over whether the oil companies will absorb any of it, in order to keep their prices right around $3 a gallon, officials say it all has to be paid to help Oregon fix, rebuild and expand its statewide transportation system. On the bright side, they say, it will create jobs as construction crews hit the road with paving and other heavy equipment. New bridges are also contemplated to meet the demand of Oregon drivers.

The story is in the Oregonian. Click on link below.

http://www.oregonlive.com/roadreport/index.ssf/2010/12/get_ready_oregonians_for_a_hig.html

As a footnote, Lincoln County Commissioner Don Lindly said during a recent meeting that as more motorists switch to low or no gas consuming autos (electric and gas hybrids), the state is being forced to explore ways to make them still pay their fair share. One idea is to raise fees on those cars based on the miles they are driven. Lindly predicted such tracking may involve satellite GPS systems to tabulate how many miles a particular car was driven over the course of a year. Lindly says they expect complaints about “invasion of privacy” but he said it’s the only verifiable method to ensure that low or no gas burning cars are paying their fair share of maintaining and expanding the roads we all drive on.

Obviously that might not be the last word on the matter.

To learn more click here:http://www.ocean18.net/Lori%20Schiewe/Lori%20Schiewe%20-%20December%20Holiday%20Commercial.mp3

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If it looks like a Toledo Street, drives like a Toledo Street and it’s inside the Toledo City Limits, then it MUST be a Toledo Street. WRONG!

Roads/Highways, Toledo No Responses »

Nov 142010

For decades on end, people who walked or drove along Butler Bridge Road, Skyline Drive, Burgess, Dundon, Arcadia, Olson, Run Bottom, Lincoln Way and Ammon streets, always thought they were traversing a Toledo city street. But they weren’t. Not then. Still not even now. But soon they will be!

Toledo Public Works Director Adam Denlinger and Lincoln County Public Works Director Jim Buisman have been sifting through mounds of old records trying to figure out if or when any of those well known stretches of pavement were transferred from the county to the city. Or what portions, and when.

In the “olde” days, when the cities were struggling and the county had all the money, the county maintained most of the streets. But over the years as cities grew and started collecting more taxes for themselves, they gradually took over those county roads and streets as their own.

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Lincoln County Commission: The sick, the mentally ill, and seniors will feel real pain.

Government, Health, ODOT, Roads/Highways, Toledo 3 Responses »

Oct 272010

Toledo City Hall

When the next Oregon Legislature meets, it’s likely to slash state support for an array of services, among them mental health, medical services for the poor, and in-home assistance for seniors. And the cuts will be deep. There will also be deep cuts in juvenile corrections as well as parole and probation for Lincoln County’s 600 paroled felons who must have supervision as part of the deal to let them out of prison.

These and other sorrowful predictions were given by the Lincoln County Commission Wednesday evening during their annual joint meeting with the Toledo City Council. Commission Chairman Bill Hall also predicted deep cuts in state support for the Lincoln County Jail. Cuts to Health and Human services programs that help needy and troubled families. He predicted the possible loss of a number of federally subsidized programs due to the lack of state matching grants that by law must team-up with federal dollars. So when the state cuts a dollar, Lincoln County will lose up to $9 on vital health and welfare programs. And with the predicted demise of Oregon’s Project Independence, the state will be throwing away a program that saved a dollar for every five cents spent on keeping frail seniors in their own homes.

He said there will also be terrible damage done to efforts at keeping needy children in school. Hall and his fellow commissioners said it will leave many students without any medical care because the county’s two walk-in clinics may be shuttered as well.

Hall also predicted possible substantial layoffs of Oregon State Police troopers who Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies rely on for “back up” when responding solo to dangerous or potentially dangerous situations.

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