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City streetscape plans go on hold

MONMOUTH -- A planned streetscape enhancement for the east end of downtown Monmouth has been pushed back by a few weeks, while the price tag for the project has risen by more than 20 percent.

Craig Coleman

July 10, 2012

MONMOUTH -- A planned streetscape enhancement for the east end of downtown Monmouth has been pushed back by a few weeks, while the price tag for the project has risen by more than 20 percent.

It's uncertain, meanwhile, if the city will move forward this year with a needed overlay of Main Street between Highway 99W and Knox Street that was to accompany the improvements.

"This is something we've been working on for a few years and when we got the cost back, it was frustrating," said City Manager Scott McClure. "We want to get this done and get it done right."

City Council did ask to proceed with the streetscape project late this month, with or without the overlay, said Monmouth Mayor John Oberst.

"The west side of Main Street is thriving right now, partly because of street enhancements we made there a decade ago," Oberst said.

"We would like to do both paving and sidewalks at one time," Oberst added. "We're going to talk to contractors first and see if there's a way to squeeze a nickel."

The four-block facelift was approved by city leaders last August. Crews with D&T Excavation of Wilsonville were slated to begin repairing sidewalk and drainage features and installing benches, planters and lighting the day after July 4.

Bids for what was supposed to be a $700,000 project, however, came back at $850,000, McClure said.

McClure said Eugene-based Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture, which did design and engineering on the project, omitted key components in cost estimates.

"Another thing is we got started in the bid process late," McClure said. "And there's more construction activity out there right now and a lot of contractors were tied up with other work ... it's supply and demand."

The streetscape project is being funded through the city's urban renewal district (URD) and pass-through dollars from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Monmouth can draw additional funds from those sources to make up the $150,000, though that could come at the expense of other street or URD improvements that spring up, McClure said.

City Council hasn't determined when to proceed with paving Main Street, which is also a part of a state road. The Oregon Department of Transportation is not requiring the overlay, McClure said.