Philomath’s Park Advisory Board got its first detailed look Tuesday night at a project that will bring noticeable changes to Philomath City Park — the replacement of two culverts with new bridges designed to improve fish passage and reduce flood risk along Newton Creek.
Rachael Rosenstein, restoration project manager for the Marys River Watershed Council, presented the project to the board during its regular monthly meeting at Philomath City Hall.
The project targets two culverts in the park — one near the pedestrian bridge on the north side, and a second to the south where the road dips. Rosenstein said both are undersized and act as velocity barriers, meaning fast-moving water shoots through them rather than flowing naturally along the stream.
“When water’s flowing that fast the fish can’t really get through,” Rosenstein told the board, adding that the current setup has also caused flooding problems and contributed to at least one incident in which a dog was swept away and died in one of the culverts.
The Marys River Watershed Council secured funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to replace both culverts as part of a broader set of similar projects. The north culvert will be replaced with a 50-foot bridge, sized to account for floodplain elevations, while the south culvert will be replaced with a 30-foot bridge. The existing pedestrian footbridge on the north side will be removed. Both new bridges are expected to be roughly 16 feet wide with 12 feet for vehicle traffic and an additional 4 feet set aside for pedestrians, separated by striping or a small barrier. The dips currently in the roadway at both culvert locations will be eliminated.
Construction is planned for summer 2027 within the state’s in-water work window of July 1 to Oct. 15. Rosenstein said a specific start date hasn’t been set, but crews plan to work on both bridges simultaneously to save time and money, with construction expected to take one to two months. Native vegetation replanting along the riparian corridor will follow, including replacement of trees that must be removed to accommodate construction.
According to Rosenstein, work completed so far includes topographic and geotechnical surveys, a snorkel survey that turned up no fish or mussels in the project area, and a review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to confirm the work won’t disturb historic or archaeological resources. Preliminary design work has also begun.
Remaining steps include continued design work, Endangered Species Act permitting with NOAA’s assistance, and a series of additional permits covering floodplain and FEMA requirements, erosion and sediment control, fill and removal, and fish passage. Because the work requires dewatering the stream, crews will first need to relocate any fish or other aquatic life from the project area before rerouting water around the site with a pump to maintain continuous downstream flow during construction.
The project also includes what Rosenstein called “the fun part” — artistic railings for the new bridges, a feature included in the original project proposal. Rosenstein said she has begun coordinating with a Philomath High School art teacher, who she said was enthusiastic about having students contribute to the design. It’s still undetermined whether students would also help fabricate the railings.
An informational sign is required as part of the project’s NOAA funding, though the specifics are still being worked out. NOAA’s only requirement is that the sign note its funding role and the project’s fish passage purpose; beyond that, Rosenstein said the sign could include information about local fish species, the park and the city.
Chelsea Starner, Philomath’s assistant city manager, said staff plan to bring design examples for both the railings and the informational sign to a future Park Advisory Board meeting to gather feedback from the board.
“You obviously are in the parks a lot, thinking about the parks,” Starner told the board. “So that’s our thought on involving a public committee to get some input from you.”
