By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – Installation of the long-awaited pedestrian-safety delineators along the west side of U.S. Highway 101 on the south edge of Yachats did not happen this summer as anticipated – but it should be soon.
Expectations about when the delineators would be installed and how much it would cost have been as flexible as the delineators over the past couple of years.
But on Wednesday the Yachats city council approved a $74,000 contract with Newport-based Road & Driveway Company to purchase 47 delineators and install them as soon as the company can schedule the work. City staff expect to hear back this week when that might be.
The only other bid the city received came from Knife River at $131,000. Both bids came in August.
The waist-high and highly-durable reflective delineators will separate pedestrians from highway traffic and run across from Yachats River Road to just shy of Lori Lane. They will be spaced 25 feet apart. The project has been a priority for the city’s Public Works & Streets Commission and the many residents or visitors who walk the highway into downtown.
Two years ago, it was estimated the project would cost $40,000. The city applied for a grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation for that amount and received it. The subsequent increase in cost is attributed to the excavation work required to widen some areas and level others to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
“It’s wide enough to walk down if you just look at it, but once you put delineators one-foot inside the fog line it leaves three feet at the max in some areas,” said Rick McClung, who oversees street and water projects for Yachats. “And you’ve got to have five feet to be ADA compliant.”
There are a couple of areas where the earthen-bank parallels the highway will need to be “shaved” back and the walkway leveled from east to west, McClung said.
The city council instructed city manager Bobbi Price to find funds to cover the project while McClung goes back to ODOT to see about increasing the grant allotment to cover the additional $34,000.
“Their engineers will check to be sure the cost is warranted, but they will say ‘Yes,’” McClung said. “But who knows how long that will take.”
ODOT approved permits for the work Aug. 13.
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
I live near Yachats and this is a waste of money for a few elites and their electric bikes. Hwy 101 bike and hike people have challenging road as it is, if you want to help them it’s hundreds of miles of delineators that are needed.
Way to ruin a beautiful little town. It is perfect just the way it is. So leave it alone.
Bravo to the town in finally getting this done. As a person who walks and bikes this dangerous corner with cars that constantly exceed the speed limit, having improvements to help address this safety issue is an achievement.
As a person who has navigated this corner almost daily for five summers, and as a person who has had some very close encounters with vehicles, and as a person who loves walking up for the mail or Farmer’s Market and loves Yachats life, I say “Can’t be soon enough”.
It’s a needed fix, but it’s not a solution. What more can be done to slow traffic down going into the curve from both directions? Given that 101 is a state highway and ODOT is neither flexible nor efficient, any solution is probably years away, but it’s hard to accept the notion that there are no effective win-win solutions for the problem of cars going too fast as they approach and leave the heart of town.
These delienators are a welcome addition and thank you to the city for making this possible. Any casual observation of this curve demonstrates the need for delineators as motorists often drift across the shoulder line into pedestrian walking space and speeds often exceed the posted speed limit around this blind corner. These actions put pedestrians at risk.
Creating safe pedestrian passage around this curve will allow folks south of the bridge to access the city center without having to drive their vehicles – resulting in traffic reduction and reducing parking congestion. The same is true of folks north of the bridge who may wish to walk along the beautiful Yachats Ocean Road and/or hike to the Amanda Trail or on to Cape Perpetua without having to drive to the location. I applaud the city for moving forward with this effort and look forward to more improvements to come.
If I am picturing these delineators correctly, while they provide a deterrent, I suspect they don’t prevent drivers who aren’t paying attention from plowing right through them and hitting someone. So how about installing concrete barricades lined up along the fog line between the bike/walking path and the highway? Or is there simply not enough room for that?
Delineators are among the more ugly human inventions. These things are beyond unattractive. And they’re apparently not that durable, as I see missing ones frequently. And expensive. A real blight on our landscape. How did we ever get along without them?
There is also a need to remove passing markers to a solid white line just before the 25 mph coming in from the south. Another need is moving to 40 mph increase at Ninth Street on the north side of town and have it moved further north. The increase is at the entrance of Dollar General and the coffee drive-through making it a risky area.