The Oregon Department of Transportation’s original plan on repaving Main Street and Applegate Street through Philomath’s downtown corridor has changed a bit in terms of available labor and timing but the state agency and its contractor this week is transitioning into the next phase as part of a buildup over the next five months to the project’s completion.
Mindy McCartt, ODOT public information officer, said Tuesday morning that the project’s lead contractor, Corpac, needed to adjust the schedule.
“We’ve pivoted quite a bit during the last couple of weeks on when this was going to start and how they were going to do it,” McCartt said. “Initially, it was going to be two crews, then it was down to one crew. It was supposed to start like on the 24th and then it was the 30th and then it’s today (Tuesday). The contractor we’re working with has had some staffing issues just like every other business in Oregon.”
McCartt said the crew was scheduled to begin work today on the southern lane of Main between 10th and 14th streets. With that approach, work on the south, or left lane as you drive west, will allow crews to continue building sidewalks and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps on that side of the road.
“They were going to try to do Main and Applegate at the same time … but that’s not happening,” McCartt said. “As of the information I received yesterday (Monday), they’re only going to be doing Main Street at this time” and the work on Applegate will follow.
McCartt confirmed that there will be at least one lane open through the work zone although there could be occasions when traffic may need to stop for a few minutes. A lane closure could remain in place for up to 90 days.
“There are no plans for closures but every once in a while, they’ll have to put a flagger on and maybe stop traffic to move a piece of equipment,” she said. “But I don’t even expect that, it’s just always a possibility. But yes, there will always be a lane of travel open.”
McCartt said some of the side streets may need to be restricted.
“But again, flaggers will be in place,” she said. “Some of the driveways will have restricted access but businesses will remain open.”
One part of the road rebuild involves the road’s elevation to bring it in line with the new sidewalks and curbs.
“It’s going to create a few areas where there will be some temporary uneven surfaces between the lanes,” McCartt said.
Those situations will occur as contractors grind off old surfaces, repair underneath and then repave in an effort to not only create a consistent level area but to provide good drainage off the roadway.
The $18 million project started in November 2022. No doubt, there will be a lot of happy business owners and residents when it’s completed and the machinery leaves town.
“All of these projects that we do affect small communities like this that’s really disruptive,” McCartt said. “It’s been such a pleasure to work with the city of Philomath and even the businesses around, they’ve not been 100% understanding but really great to work with. We know at the end of the day, this is going to be a benefit to the community. It’s going to make a safer, smoother ride for everybody who travels.”
One of the anticipated traffic complications involves summer traffic with Highway 20 through Philomath representing a major route to and from the Oregon Coast. McCartt said the repaving part of the project needed to be done during the summer.
“There’s no great time to do it,” she said. “As with a lot of construction projects, we are very weather dependent and we’re talking about paving in the summers — that’s really the only time we can do big projects like this but hopefully with the one lane remaining open, we still can get traffic in … it’s just going to be a little bit slower.”
Although minor delays have occurred and the situation with fewer laborers has resulted in only one crew working at a time on the road rebuilding and repaving phase, McCartt said the project appears to be moving along on schedule.
“We’re still hoping for end of August, first of September, to be wrapped up with this and that includes landscaping and curbs and all the things,” McCartt said. “That is the hope.”
Overall, the Downtown Safety and Streetscape Improvements Project runs on Main from Seventh to 14th and on Applegate from Seventh to 15th. Over these past several months, work has primarily been focused on concrete work, such as sidewalks, driveways and ADA ramps, and completing underground drainage.
