The Hermiston City Council awarded a contract for the North 1st Place improvements at its Monday night meeting.
The $3,002,966 contract went to Nelson Construction, one of five contractors who bid on the project. The winning bid was also the lowest bid submitted to the city.
According to Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan, the bulk of the project is the complete demolition and rebuilding of the roadway from Hermiston Avenue to Elm Avenue. Included in the project is the installation of a 10-foot wide asphalt pathway on the east side of the roadway, as well as a typical curb, gutter, and sidewalk on the west side of the roadway.
Morgan said the sidewalk work will fill in nearly 3,000 feet of missing sidewalk, but also formalize all of the driveways located along the length of the project. The pathway on the east side of the roadway will also include low water use landscaping consisting of crushed rock, bunchgrasses, and trees, along with bollard-style lighting.
The project will be paid for through a $4.5 million earmark from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) which the city was awarded in 2017.
Since then, the city has been able to plan other work around the project such as significant work associated with two sewer lift stations near the intersection of 1st and Ridgeway, which is nearing completion now.
The N. 1st Place project will also replace approximately 3,300 feet of old water main which is estimated to be nearly 100 years old. Morgan said completing this underground utility work now will also eliminate the need for tearing in to the street for repairs on these utilities for years to come.
Morgan said the project will cause significant disruption and closure of N. 1st Place for an extended period of time. To help mitigate that issue, the city paved a gravel portion of N.W. 3rd Street last fall using funds from the ODOT earmark so the street can be used as a detour route during construction. A detailed schedule of when the various portions of the work will occur is still subject to how the contractor chooses to do the work, but Morgan said the city will know more in the coming weeks.
Morgan said people should be aware that the roadway demolition/rebuilding work will also impact Hermiston Avenue. The city rebuilt Hermiston Avenue several years ago, but that work stopped short of the intersection of 1st & Hermiston Avenue.
Also, the roadway rebuild that occurred in the late 1990s between 1st & Highway 395 did not extend into the intersection. Morgan told the council that this project will now get in to the intersection to rebuild the roadway there. Due to the disruption that will be caused by closing that intersection, the contract requires that the work in the intersection be completed in such a way that the intersection itself is only closed for five days.
Also at Monday’s council meeting, the city voted to increase garbage rates. The new rate increase will be $2.33 per month for residents using 90-gallon cans, and $1.50 per month for 35-gallon cans. The new rates take effect in April.
