TD Council to wrestle roads, utilities and property development tonight, Jan. 24
With the acceptance of an Oregon Department Of Transportation Agreement, The City of The Dalles is looking to add a center lane and sidwalks to this portion of Sixth Street, currently referred to as the westend skinny. The area is a hot bed of near misses and full on accidents as the section of road has an intermittent center turn lane.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles City Council is poised to make an agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation to widen West Sixth Street at its regular meeting scheduled for tonight, Jan. 24, starting at 5:30 p.m.
To join the meeting via Zoom, click here. The meetings are also live-streamed via CCCNews here.
The agreement would allow for the $1-million project which will add a center lane from Snipes Street to Hostetler Street; Think Kentucky Fried Chicken to Spooky’s Pizza.
“This section of roadway has been the site of numerous motor vehicle accidents over the years, the majority of which have been related to attempted left-turns by westbound Vehicles,” according to the City staff report. “It has also been reported by City Police officers over the years that head-on near misses have been observed as drivers move into the oncoming lane to make a left turn not realizing that the center turn lane has ended.”
Staff has developed a concept for the project and sought funding for its implementation for more than 10 years.
From the Staff Report:
An application for funding was finally successful in the latest round of ODOT’s All Roads Transportation Safety (ARTS) program. The agreement under consideration with this report would finalize the award of that funding.
The project would reconstruct West 6th Street from Snipes to Hostetler Streets to
• Widen the street to add a center turn lane
• Regrade and repave the street to improve drainage
• Reconstruct sidewalks to provide ADA-compliant curb ramps, drive approaches and sidewalk slopes
• Add street lighting and make certain safety improvements at the intersection of West 6th and Hostetler Streets.
The City would need to acquire right-of-way from two properties along West 6th Street for the project to proceed.
Under the ARTS program, ODOT can provide 92.22% of a project’s costs. The West 6th street project was estimated to cost $1,000,000 therefore the agreement proposes to provide up to $922,200 for the project. The City would be obligated to pay $77,800 for a $1,000,000 project; the City would also be responsible for project costs in excess of $1,000,000 barring an amendment to the Agreement. If it was later determined that the City could not afford to provide the required match, the project could be canceled and the funds declined without penalty.
It is planned that the City would design the project in-house and construct the project with contracted resources. Construction would likely occur in late 2022 or 2023.
Annexation and house construction on East 18th St.
City Council will hold a public hearing on annexing into City Boundaries a 1-acre lot int the 2500 block of E. 18th Street in Thompson’s Edition.
The property is owned by Edward Nelson who is asking to partition the lot to build houses.
The property, above in yellow, is being considered for annexation as the owner is looking to partition the property and build houses.
The property is zoned residential, and Nelson applied to annex as part of a condition
of approval for a minor partition which is needed to gain approval to build houses on the property.
“Inclusion of this property within the city limits will provide an opportunity for the
City to plan and design its public utilities and facilities, including streets, storm
systems, water and sanitary sewer systems to ensure the City can provide the
necessary public services to its citizens in an orderly and efficient manner,” the staff report states.
Declining Bids for Utility work on Trevitt Street
City staff is recommending the rejection of bids for Trevitt Street Utility upgrades phase 1 for replacing and upgrading the sanitary sewer mains located in Trevitt Street between the cross streets of W 9th Street and W 12th Street.
Additional phases will ultimately upgrade and correct the utilities in Trevitt Street up to the
W. 17th Street intersection. Once the utility upgrading projects have been completed, the city would issue a contract to rebuild and resurface the entire roadway segment of Trevitt Street between W. 6th Street and W. 17th Street
Within Phase 1, “The work to be performed shall consist of furnishing all materials, labor and equipment necessary to construct approximately 2,205 feet of sanitary sewer pipe ranging from 4” to 10” diameter, according to the report. “ Work will also include the removal/abandonment of existing sanitary sewer pipe and the construction of manholes and all other appurtenances. All work will be conducted in accordance with the contract documents.”
The Bidders were:
1. Crestline Construction, in the amount of $746,724.00
2. James Dean Construction, in the amount of $1,118,417.00
3. Beam Construction, in the amount of $1,315,776.50
However, an addendum to the bid requiring an 8-inch sanitary sewer pipe to be installed was not addressed by Crestline in their bid and was deemed incomplete.
City Staff then further reviewed the remaining two submitted bids and while they were deemed as responsive bids, it was determined that both bids substantially exceeded the funds that were budgeted and available for this project.
The city budgeted $750,000 for the work.
The City may reject all bids for good cause upon the City’s written finding that it is in the public interest to do so consistently with Local Contract Review Board Rule 04-0420(4), the staff report says. The required findings may be adopted by resolution. With this report, staff is recommending that the City Council find that it is in the public interest to reject all bids due to insufficient funds for the project based upon the responsive bids received.
