Coy-Navarre safety improvements to start in 2022

By: 
Kelly J. Kaczala

        Oregon City Council at a meeting on Monday agreed to pay DGL Consulting Engineers, Maumee, additional funds not to exceed $50,000 for professional engineer services for the Navarre Avenue and Coy Road Safety Improvement project.
        “The bulk of the design changes are needed to assist the city with negotiating right of way acquisition with property owners at the northeast and southwest corners of that intersection,” said Public Service Director Paul Roman.
        The city has proposed to Barney’s BP gas station on Navarre at Coy to enclose a ditch that splits the property as part of the project, said Roman. It would be offered in lieu of right of way purchases.
        “So it would be a nice barter for them,” said Roman.
        Council President Dennis Walendzak asked when the project would go out to bid.
        “The design is just about complete,” said Roman. “Our work for this year was right of way acquisition and that’s what we’re doing. We do plan to do some utility relocation work – putting lines underground – through that intersection this year. But the main project itself will be bid out next year.”
       
Reduce crashes
        The Coy Road/Navarre Avenue intersection is along the main commercial corridor through Oregon. It experiences large volumes of traffic from I-280 to recreational areas along Lake Erie. The intersection is ranked 39th on the 2016 Urban Interstate Highway Safety Improvement Program list for Ohio.
        The project was initiated by the city to reduce crashes and congestion.
        The project consists of:
        •Installing a median along Navarre Avenue at the Coy Road intersection with accommodations for U-turns;
        •Adding a right turn lane for northbound Coy;
        •Adding an additional thru-right lane for southbound Coy and extending the lane to Dustin Road;
        •Replacing the existing traffic signal with all new signal poles and traffic signal equipment to improve visibility and accommodate pedestrians, including adding supplemental signal heads, signal backplates and ADA compliant pedestrian signals;
        •Replacing the existing Coy Road bridge over Amolsch Ditch north of Navarre Avenue to accommodate additional pavement width and sidewalks;
        •Resurfacing the pavement within project limits;
        •Eliminating some drives near the intersection;
        •Adding landscape and streetscape elements like the Navarre/Wheeling project.
       
Safety grant
        The cost of the project is currently estimated at $2.5 million.
        The city received a $1.7 million safety grant to implement various safety improvements at the intersection. The grant is intended for projects that have a high accident rate, which the Coy Road and Navarre Avenue intersection has, according to a traffic study. Over a three year period, the study showed there was an average of 50 accidents per year at that intersection.
        The safety grant covers most of the project costs, excluding aesthetic features such as decorative poles and lit bollards, which the city plans to have for the intersection.
        Last year, council approved an agreement with DGL Consulting Engineers to provide engineering services for the design of the project.
        Also at the meeting, council:
        •Authorized the payment of an invoice to the U.S. EPA to provide labor, materials and equipment for an emergency spill response work due to a fuel oil leak from an underground storage tank located at 2830 Navarre Ave., where the former Kmart was located. “The spill was due to a vent line that was severed during the demolition of the building,” said Roman. “I was made aware of this last August. We had an ordinance that paid the initial contractor that we hired to contain the site. I said at the time we would get a bill from the U.S. EPA for its own coordination work. U.S EPA brought in their own contractors. We did plan for this invoice and put money in our budget.”
        The city filed a claim for an environmental consultant to do an environmental site assessment due to an error of not identifying an underground storage tank, which is what the claim is based on, he added.
        “We do believe we will be reimbursed for the bulk of these costs. We have been negotiating. It is going well. I believe they will pay it and it will be settled,” said Roman.
        The underground storage tank at the rear of the property was misidentified as an old water well, said Roman.
        “I believe there was enough evidence there to show it was an underground storage tank. That is the real error,” he said.
        •Authorized the mayor and finance director to apply for and to accept a grant from the 2021 Bulletproof Vest Program, which was established in 1998. The city has annually applied for the grant funding under the program since 1999 for the replacement of bulletproof vests for police officers. Last year, the city received $10,158 in grant funding for the program.
 
 
 
       
 
       

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