ODOT, city ink E. Second repaving deal

There is a bright spot, however: On one stretch of East Second Street, the city will be able to repave the roadway for a relatively inexpensive amount, thanks to an agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Last week, The Dalles City Council voted unanimously to authorize an intergovernmental agreement that will allow the city to fold repaving of Second Street into ODOT’s Highway 30 Brewery Grade-State Road paving project planned for spring. ODOT plans to redo approximately one mile of roadway, from the Brewery Grade roundabout to near Big Jim’s Drive-In.

“It’s a section of Old Highway 30 that has not seen any work for a length of time,” explained Pat Cimmiyotti, regional manager for ODOT. “There was an overlay in 2010, but it has reached the end of its life span. We knew we’d have to do something in that section. We were hoping to stretch it a couple more years, but with the severity of the winter we had, it needs to be done this year. This is more of a long-term fix that will last 16 to 20 years, hopefully.”

An 815-foot portion of East Second Street in line to be repaved — from the roundabout to just west of the I-84 overpass that leads to the boat basin — is within the jurisdiction of the city.

“The jurisdictional lines change at that point,” Cimmiyotti explained, adding that ODOT offered to

extend the project to the roundabout to maximize its impact.

Anderson pointed out that the damage along Second Street was severe in spots, so the unexpected offer from ODOT was very welcome.

“This project was not planned for this year, as it was not expected that the section of East Second Street from the overpass to the roundabout would deteriorate as much as it did this winter,” Anderson said. “There is now a nearly continuous line of potholes in the westbound lane in that section.”

Cimmiyotti said the entire mile of roadway that will be repaved is in poor condition.

“It’s showing its age and the impacts of increased truck traffic,” he said. “We’re seeing potholes in that section.”

The entire project will cost $295,000, with the city’s bill expected to be approximately $55,325.

Anderson said there are multiple benefits to teaming up with ODOT to tackle the repaving on Highway 30/Second Street.

“The cost of the work being done through ODOT just about equals the costs we would pay to purchase asphalt to do the project in-house, but we will be saving the associated expenses of using our labor and equipment for the project,” said Anderson.

“Another benefit of completing the project in this manner is that ODOT is requiring their contractor to do the work at night to minimize disruptions to traffic.”

Mayor Steve Lawrence said piggybacking onto the ODOT project will save the city a significant amount of money.

“It is a wonderful gift to our budget that we only must pay for the materials,” Lawrence said. “Our partnership with ODOT over the years has been excellent.”

Once the work gets started, it is expected to require approximately a week to complete. ODOT officials anticipate the work will be finished no later than May 26.

The project will include a new guardrail along the one-mile stretch where the paving is scheduled.

“The new guardrail will be up to modern standards,” Cimmiyotti said.

Anderson believes the finished project will be popular with motorists.

“We’ve had more and more complaints about the roundabout, so we’re excited about the opportunity to let the ODOT contractor do this project,” Anderson said.

According to Cimmiyotti, state and local jurisdictions are always on the lookout for potential cost-savings by combining projects.

“We’re always in communication with the county and the city to look for these opportunities,” Cimmiyotti explained.

“If they have work they call us, and if we have work we call them. It’s just a good example of partnering we’ve built over the years.”