The Hermiston City Council paved the way Monday night for a new trail that will connect S.W. 11th Street to Riverfront Park along the south side of W. Highland Avenue.
The council voted unanimously to approve a revised intergovernmental agreement between the city and the Oregon Department of Transportation. The agreement details the responsibilities of each party in the design and construction of the West Highland multi-use trail.
ODOT estimates the cost of the project at $663,225. The state will pay 77% or $482,459. The city’s share is 22.62% or $150,000.
The state will be responsible for the acquisition of any needed right-of-way and hiring the contractor for construction of the trail. The city will coordinate with ODOT and hire the project engineer. The engineer will work with city staff to design a trail which meets ODOT’s design standards. ODOT will have the ultimate authority to approve the design.
The new IGA is significantly different from the IGA approved by the council in March. The state has modified the program to utilize the fund exchange program rather than directly using federal dollars. This change removes several restrictions on the funds and allows the city to streamline the trail development process.
Rather than the project being an ODOT project with ODOT selecting the engineer and contractor, the project is now a city project where the city can use its existing engineer and later hire a contractor through the city’s bid process. The city will act as the project manager rather than ODOT.
Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith said the city has already budgeted for the project with $35,000 coming from the city’s cash reserves, $25,000 coming from the bicycles trails reserve fund, and $9,000 coming from the community enhancement reserve fund.
“We, as a staff, prefer this revised agreement because we think we can get it done quicker and maybe even save some money,” Smith said.
Smith said the goal is to begin construction on the trail next summer.
