A water-sewer project that required the closure of a stretch of South 19th Street from Applegate to Cedar streets caught the Philomath School District and the Philomath Youth Activities Club off guard Friday morning.
In a mid-morning email to parents, Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday wrote of the street closure, “This was unexpected and we are currently collecting data from the contractors to determine the impact on our schools.”
Philomath Public Works Director Kevin Fear said that the contractor, Mid-Valley Gravel, had plans to meet with school officials on Friday afternoon.
PYAC Associate Director and Child Care Director Sarah Woosley sent out a similar communication. Both the school and PYAC had instructions for picking up children. Halliday said bus routes were to run as normal Friday and that students who were walking would have access to sidewalks.
“We have requested that the local police be out and about to remind people to take it slow and follow all detour signage,” she said before students had been dismissed through early release, which is the normal schedule for Fridays.
PYAC’s Woosley suggested that for those with children involved in after-school programs, they should use the fire lane between the high school and middle school.
“They were not starting until after the morning rush and then they may end up being in the road in the afternoon but people will still be able to come and go and be able to get in and out of school without an issue,” Fear said. “You just can’t travel between Applegate and Cedar during that time.”
The South 19th sewer and water improvement project involves the replacement of 1950s-era concrete sewer lines with new piping in a stretch from Applegate to Lowther Place. The water main line will also be replaced in the same area.
Mid-Valley Gravel was awarded the contract in November to do the work with a bid of $1.6 million. At the time, Fear estimated the project to begin in early December with completion sometime in February or March.
The city prioritized the South 19th sewer and water line work to stay ahead of Benton County’s plans to repave the road’s north and south segments next summer.
Friday’s work involved saw-cutting, a process of using a specialized concrete saw to cut through the road surface to create access to utility lines. Mid-Valley Gravel’s plan was to not close 19th Street and begin the work until after the morning school rush, Fear said, with a detour put in place to move traffic from Applegate to 18th to Cedar.
A post on the city’s website, which this morning had last been updated Dec. 10, showed that the project had been scheduled to begin Dec. 16 and to check back for updates. A project calendar in the Public Works office showed Dec. 13 as the date for survey work to be done — which would not require a street closure — with the saw-cutting to begin Dec. 16.
Fear said the timing of such projects that are done during the winter months can be unpredictable in terms of the schedule.
“It’s kind of iffy — I mean, trying to do a project, especially a deep sewer project, at this time of year with all of the rain that we’re getting now,” Fear said. “It’s kind of a shot in the dark on where it (the work calendar) goes.”
Fear said he takes fault for not pointing out the latest plan with the school district. He added that Mid-Valley Gravel plans to do any of the work that would directly impact the often-congested intersection at 19th and Applegate during nighttime hours.
“In trying to coordinate everything, getting materials to get started was kind of a chore trying to track those down and it went into a blur and a hurry,” Fear said, adding that the contractor wanted to get certain areas of work completed ahead of time so that the most disruptive portions of the project could be done while students are on the holiday break.
“Our whole goal was to set up some sort of traffic (plan) that wouldn’t affect the school,” Fear said.
The project calendar shows the work as a whole continuing until around March 2 with the final walk-through.
In addition to the work on South 19th, the project also includes sewer line replacements on North 17th between Main and College streets with some work on North 18th near Main.
Fear said that if any citizens have questions about the project, give Public Works a call at 541-929-3579.