A city project to add striped bike lanes on Applegate Street between South 15th to South 21st has come in under budget and ahead of schedule, Mayor Christopher McMorran said during the Philomath City Council’s July 14 meeting.
The project creates a safer route for students bicycling to Philomath Elementary and Philomath High. The bike lanes will connect to existing ones east of 21st on Applegate and west of South 15th on the east side of the couplet. Currently, students must navigate a section without dedicated bike infrastructure directly in front of both schools.
“Kids who are riding to school have a great safe place to ride their bike until they get directly in front of and between the schools,” McMorran said.
The city fast-tracked the project to take advantage of cost savings when Benton County scheduled road maintenance work in the area. McMorran said the timing allowed the city to share the expense of bringing in specialized road-striping equipment and crews.
“It just worked out really well because they already have Benton County bringing their big road-striping truck and crew in just to do some maintenance and repaint existing lines,” McMorran said. “If we didn’t do it like this month, we would have probably had to wait until next summer.”
The project will cost an estimated $30,000, well under the city’s $100,000 budget for bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the current fiscal year. Public Works Supervisor Garry Black’s cost estimate leaves $70,000 available for additional projects before the fiscal year ends.
To accommodate the new bike lanes, the city will eliminate on-street parking on the north side of Applegate Street while maintaining parking on the south side. McMorran referred to the configuration as counterintuitive but said it reflects the street’s engineering constraints.
The city’s Public Works Committee reviewed the project and invited public comment at a July 8 meeting. Among the attendees were Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday and crossing guard Jill Chambers, who regularly assists students at the Applegate and 19th Street intersection.
The bike lane project aligns with the City Council’s strategic plan, which prioritizes bicycle and pedestrian connections throughout Philomath.
The project was tentatively scheduled for next week to take advantage of the county’s concurrent road work to complete the striping ahead of the new school year.
