Road work, totaling $10.1 million, coming to Baker

Revising the intersection of Chico Road and Highway 30 in northwest Baker City is part of a planned $1 million project to rebuild Chico Road in 2011.

By ED MERRIMAN
Baker City Herald

Preparations are under way for $10.1 million in improvements to four heavily used roads in the Baker City area.

The money is from the Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act passed by the 2009 Legislature.

Baker County was allocated $10.1 million under three separate contract agreements for improvements to Chico Road, Chandler Lane, Resort Street and Best Frontage Road.

Money for the Resort Street and Best Frontage Road projects funneled from the state to Baker County and on to Baker City.

“The county has signed the documents with (the Oregon Department of Transportation). We are hoping to do Chico Road next year and Chandler Lane in 2012,” said Fred Warner Jr., chairman of the Baker County Board of Commissioners.

“ODOT just got the paperwork done. They have decided that despite the downturn in the state economy, the money will probably be there, so they are going ahead with the contracts,” Warner said.

Baker County received ODOT contract agreements last week for the projects:

Chico Road

• Agreement 26450 authorizes $1 million, including $150,000 for engineering and $850,000 for construction, to rebuild Chico Road, which connects Pocahontas Road and Highway 30 in northwest Baker City.

The Chico Road project, scheduled for 2011, includes safety improvements to the potentiall dangerous intersection at Highway 30.

Chico Road is a main connector road for the city’s industrial park, less than a quarter-mile to the west, and part of the city’s truck route which follows 17th Street and Auburn Avenue to Highways 7 and 30, Warner said.

“This is a high-traffic area for trucks,” he said.

The project also involves moving a gas line, which runs under the road, to the barrow pit.

Chandler Lane

• Agreement 26458 allocates $4.6 million for rebuilding Chandler Lane, which intersects with Highway 30 about halfway between Baker City and Haines.

The budget includes $690,000 for engineering and design, $50,000 for right-of-way purchases and $3.86 million for construction.

“Chandler Lane is our major connector road between Interstate 84 and state freight routes,” Warner said. “It truly is the only cross road in the Baker Valley between Interstate 84 and Highway 30. A lot of potato trucks and other farm trucks use it. The pavement is structurally cracked from Davenport Road to the freeway. We will totally reconstruct the base.”

The project is scheduled for 2012.

Due to the dilapidated pavement, Warner said many potato and cattle trucks avoid Chandler Lane and use other roads not meant for heavy trucks.

“We are trying to build a road good enough that they will use it and bypass our heavy traffic areas,” Warner said.  

Resort Street/Best Frontage Road

• Agreement No. 26459 allocates $4.5 million for two Baker City projects: rebuilding Resort Street, including new asphalt, sidewalks, trees and pedestrian lighting, and a project to build a new Best Frontage Road, which straddles the Baker City/Baker County line east of Interstate 84, including lighting, paths, curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

The appropriation for Resort Street and Best Frontage Road improvements include $675,000 for preliminary engineering and design, $150,000 for right-of-way purchases, and $3.675 million for construction.

Michelle Owen, the city’s public works director,  said the estimate for improving Resort Street between Auburn Avenue and Madison Street is $2.23 million.

“Ideally, that will be expanded to cover the additional block from Madison to Campbell,” Owen said — that’s the block next to the Baker County Public Library.

The estimate does not include moving power lines underground, Owen said.

“Other alternatives may be explored to potentially cover those costs,” she said, including applying for other grants, levying an LID assessment on Resort Street properties, and negotiating a cost-share arrangement with Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative.

“Resort Street is an integral piece of Baker City’s transportation network. Serving as a collector for one of our largest commercial areas, the street provides a connection between Highway 7 and Highway 30, as well as an alternative route for traffic from Main Street (highway 30),” Owen said.

Once the ODOT agreement has been signed by city officials, Owen said the city can begin the design portion of the Resort Street project by late summer or early fall, with construction planned for 2011-2012.

“Obviously Resort Street is a priority for us, and we will be getting that done as soon as possible. Whatever is left when we get Resort Street done will go to Best Frontage Road,” Owen said.