Work on planned improvements to South 11th and South 12th streets in Philomath could get underway as soon as next month with the project expected to wrap up by the end of July.
Public Works Director Kevin Fear said the city uses May 1 as a general benchmark for when road excavation work can safely begin.
“They figure the heavy rains and everything that would cause issues with digging stuff up at that time is pretty much done after May 1,” he said.
A preconstruction meeting is scheduled for April 20 with contractor Pacific Excavation and utility companies to finalize details before work begins. Fear estimates the project will take about 2-1/2 months to complete.
The Philomath City Council awarded the $630,848 contract to Pacific Excavation in March. The project will add curbs, gutters, sidewalks and parking to both streets between Main and Applegate streets, along with an electric vehicle charging station on 12th Street.
One item to be worked out at the preconstruction meeting is how Pacific Excavation plans to stage the work across the two streets.
“I don’t know if they’ll send two crews and do one on 11th and one on 12th or if they’ll start on one of the streets and go through and tear it all up,” Fear said.
Fear said the city engineer indicated the contractor will likely work in halves — completing one side of a street before shifting traffic and working on the other.
Businesses along the project corridor include the Meet’n Place Tavern and parking for Willamette Hose and Fittings and Les and Bob’s Sports and Apparel on South 12th Street. South 11th Street is home to Evenflo Plumbing, Empower Therapy and Philomath Pharmacy on the west side, with mostly residences on the east side. Fear said the contractor will communicate directly with businesses once plans are finalized, and access will be maintained throughout construction.
The EV charging station component of the project involves two separate contractors working in sequence. Pacific Excavation will install the conduit and pull the wiring, after which Evergreen Charging Solutions will handle the programming and software setup.
Fear also noted that three power poles need to be relocated as part of the overall project, with one being replaced — likely the pole that will supply power to the EV charging equipment. The station will feature one unit with two chargers.
The charging station is funded through a $112,950 block grant from the Oregon Department of Energy.
Fear said the 11th and 12th street work is part of a longer-term vision for improving the areas around downtown.
“The city manager wanted 11th and 12th done because it’s closer to the core part of the downtown area where everything’s located and as money becomes available and everything, we plan on moving down towards Seventh eventually at some time in the future,” Fear said.
Future improvements in that direction would include decorative streetlights to match those already installed along the main downtown corridor, he added.
