A decade ago when Philomath’s new city manager took a look around town, he noticed a potential road project on South 16th Street near Philomath Elementary and the city’s public works complex.
“It just looked right for improvement,” City Manager Chris Workman said Friday during a special event celebrating the road’s completion. “Little did I know at that time how much time and effort and money it was going to take.”
This past summer, the project became a reality with South 16th Street’s extension to the intersection of South 17th and Cedar. The new road includes safety features, such as wide sidewalks, a well-marked crosswalk and more accessibility for dropping off and picking up students.
The successful partnership with the Philomath School District brought it all together.
“It’s just really helped us get this project moving forward and to actually get it completed in a really rapid time frame,” Mayor Chas Jones said. “It’s a testament to what can be accomplished when we all come together.”
Workman provided background to give those in attendance a sense of how the project happened, a process that included it being added in 2018 to the city’s transportation system plan, methodology adjustments to system development charges to earmark revenue for work on smaller streets, the effective working relationship with the school district and a successful funding strategy.
“We get a little bit of money every year from the state from the gas tax and we literally just squirrled that money away for eight or nine years in order to have enough money to put this project together,” Workman said. “This is a big deal for us to be able to put out $2 million worth of a project and it was worth every penny of it.”
The city manager also mentioned successful engagement with the neighborhood, which involved Mid-Valley Gravel’s interactions with residents. Westech Engineering’s contributions were also highlighted.
The school district’s willingness to give up the land needed for the new street moved the project forward.
“It took a lot of foresight for the School Board to see the benefits of the project and to identify the extension of 16th Street over to 17th Street as a necessity project — something that was going to bring added safety to the students and that it was a good investment for the School Board to make,” Workman said. “That wasn’t an easy decision and so I’m grateful that they were able to do that and donate a large portion of that southern part of the property where the street now runs.”
The project had a tight window for completion — it got started with less disruptive work as classes were about to be dismissed for the summer with construction finished before students headed back in the fall.
“This is my 25th year working in schools and I worked in three different districts …and I’ve never been part of a project that’s been done on time,” Philomath Elementary School Principal Eric Beasley said.
Beasley said the new approach to the school has changed how kids transition into the building.
“We used to kind of have kids all over the place and now everybody is coming through what we call the Falcon gate,” Beasley said. “I get to stand there in the morning, everybody flows in there and what’s so nice about that is that we have kids that will be under the covered area, kids in the gym … This year, all of our kids can now eat free, so it’s just really great how they flow in — they go to their spot and then anybody that wants to grab breakfast, it’s all centrally located right there.”
Beasley also mentioned how the project has improved safety, including the wider sidewalks, traffic pattern improvements and parking options.
School superintendent Susan Halliday had several people to thank for their roles in the project — including School Board members, the district’s facilities crew, Beasley, Mid-Valley Gravel’s Kenny Pellett, subcontractors and others.
“It’s been an incredible project for us to be able to work on,” she said. “On the first day of school, we could have kids actually come through on the buses and have no issue whatsoever.”
With the road now in place, the school district has shifted into an expanded plan for crossing guards.
Teresa Nielson, city councilor and former teacher, acknowledged various individuals involved, including Jones, Workman, Pellett, fellow city councilors, city engineer, public works personnel, School Board members, the school district and several others.
“It takes a lot of hands when things like this come about, so thank you for that,” she said.
Jones also had several thank-yous to offer, including to Workman for “leadership that really helped bring it to fruition.”
In a fun moment to keep the event moving along and offer something beyond speeches at a podium, Workman introduced what he called a “yellow limousine drag race.” He handed out long sticks to various individuals who used them to roll tiny toy buses along the sidewalk toward a finish line. Jones appeared to have been the winner with Beasley on his hands and knees in second place and Police Chief Dave Gurski right behind in pursuit.
