By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Thursday, October 13, 2005 12:00 am
PHILOMATH - Design and right-of-way work for the Philomath couplet is later than expected, so construction on the $13 million road project will be pushed back into 2007, according to officials of the state Department of Transportation.
The project, planned to begin in early 2006 and finish that year, was scheduled to go out for bids in December, but that won't be possible because right-of-way acquisitions won't finish until spring or summer, said Ken Kohl, project manager for ODOT. Construction cannot begin until late next summer at the earliest.
"We can't build the project until we have the right of way to build on," Kohl told the Philomath City Council at its meeting Monday.
Even with a delay that could result in higher construction costs, the project appears on budget thanks to an ample project contingency fund.
The couplet will reroute eastbound traffic from Main Street onto Applegate Street, creating two main routes to ease traffic congestion in Philomath.
The transportation department is debating whether to start the project as soon as possible and do road work during two construction seasons, which might be less expensive.
But fitting the project into one spring and summer would lessen impacts to motorists.
"It may be advantageous to just wait and construct it all in 2007," Kohl said.
Acquiring property for the project was delayed due to late changes in design and completion of environmental permits, ODOT officials said.
The state has budgeted $1.6 million for the 56 right-of-way "files" in the couplet project, which includes costs for appraisals, staff work and land value, said Melissa Mallott, senior right-of-way project manager.
Although property acquisition includes temporary easements, about 95 percent of the files have some sort of permanent taking of land, she added.
Property owners get compensated for the land based on fair market value, determined by an appraisal.
Three structures within the project area will need to be either removed or demolished. The state will pay to relocate one family from those rental properties.
As tenants moved out of those houses, ODOT rented the vacant units to minimize relocation costs, which can be $20,000 or more per family, Mallott said.
"We can pay out rent for a long time" and still save money, Kohl added.
Beginning in January, property owners started receiving notices from the state if their land was needed for the project. Many residents already knew their property was in the proposed right of way, based on initial drawings and public meetings.
With design changes, a few notices still need to be sent out.
While no purchases have closed, more than 65 percent of appraisals are complete and 30 percent of offers have been made, Mallott said.
If there is a disagreement on the appraisal on a property, residents can appeal with their own information, or request to determine the property's value through the courts.
"We do everything we can to try and keep it from going to court because that costs everybody money," Mallott said.
Politics also can influence how people respond to appraisals, Kohl said. And if that's the case, right-of-way acquisition for the couplet could be controversial.
While many residents think the project will be an improvement, a coalition of 30 business owners and residents tried to stop the project, believing it will hurt access to shops and drive away customers.
The couplet also led to ethics complaints, a defeated recall of two councilors, a threatened boycott of businesses that supported the recall and a handful of informal petitions against the project.
The state-funded project has a match of about $1 million from the city of Philomath, which already has made improvements on College Street, said Randy Kugler, city manager.