River Street signal among area projects eyed by ODOT
From our weekly issue dated April 29, 2009
Traffic signals at Hwy. 199 and River Street were among forthcoming projects discussed by officials from the Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT), who met with Cave Junction Mayor Don Moore at city hall Tuesday morning, April 21.
Moore said that Art Anderson, ODOT Rogue Valley Area manager, visited for around two hours. Topics included installation of traffic signals at River Street and Hwy. 199, long a bone of contention in the community.
“We have some problems out here that need to be resolved, and the signal is one of them,” Moore said.
That project will cost at least $500,000, Moore said. Work is to begin sometime next year due to ODOT’s growing workload.
“They’ve gotten behind because of the stimulus package, so they won’t survey it until June instead of the next two weeks, as was promised, because they’re backlogged,” Moore said. “There’s a six-month lead time just to get the poles for the signals.”
Hwy. 199 also will benefit from increased federal allocations for infrastructure, Moore said.
“One of the things they’re going to be doing is putting a chip-seal on 199 from Cave Junction to the California border,” he said. “They’re going to be spending about $1 million to do that, as part of the federal stimulus package.”
Construction on 199 of passing lanes west of Wilderville and north of Elliot Creek is set to start next March, Moore said. That particular project carries a $1.8 million price tag, he added.
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Moore said that ODOT will investigate the crosswalk on 199. It’s in-between the I.V. Senior Thrift Shop and Taylor’s Country Store between Watkins and Lister streets. The question is whether signs and flashing lights should be used to draw attention to it. ODOT took ownership of the crosswalk when it did restriping and added handicapped access, Moore said.
“They’re going to have an engineer look at this,” Moore said. “Their job is to take care of the signage for it.”
Efforts also are being made to bring additional stimulus dollars to Cave Junction, Moore said. When the stimulus package first was unveiled, he said, cities needed to have “Class 3” collectors to qualify for allocations. However, the city of Cave Junction has none.
“They made an exemption where we can get funding, up to $100,000, to do overlay curb and sidewalk work,” Moore said. “We’re looking at a couple of streets here where we might be able to get a new overlay done and get sidewalks put in.”
Also discussed during the April 21 meeting was possible installation of a turning lane on Hamilton Street, Moore said.
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