.: Print Version :.

Bay Area residents have spent the last few months navigating the main roads often feeling like trapped rats stuck in a maze, making only wrong turns.

For the past few months, NW Natural and its contractor, Henkels & McCoy, have ripped up roadways to dig trenches to install natural gas pipeline laterals throughout the community. Three roads hit the hardest were Libby Lane, linking Charleston and Coos Bay; and Ocean Boulevard and Newmark Avenue, providing Empire and Bay Area residents with two major transportation routes.

Residents were delayed, detoured and rerouted to make way for progress.

And after only a few days, residents started complaining.

One of those getting an earful from upset drivers - and city councilors - was Steve Doty, the city of Coos Bay's engineering services coordinator. Residents quickly learned there was nothing city officials at Coos Bay - or North Bend - could really do about the gaping pot holes opening up or uneven portions of roads left behind by repair crews.

Doty said his department has nothing to do with the project - and has been trying to get residents who call to report their problems and concerns to NW Natural. (See box for information.)

"That way NW Natural gets an idea of the number of complaints we're getting," he said. "We're not getting as many as we used to though. I think people are getting used to it and putting up with it."

Doty also reassured residents the current patches on most area roads are temporary fixes. Crews put down temporary patches (usually about six inches of asphalt cover over the holes) to get traffic flowing through the community again, he said.

"The roads are going to be fixed," he said. "It is not going to be acceptable as it is now," Doty said, adding the city has the final say over whether the repairs to the roads are acceptable.

Currently, the plan calls for repair crews to grind some of the asphalt and then pave the affected portions of the roads. Doty said his department also has been keeping track of the project, noting damage to streets and sidewalks that will need repaired.

"They will come back and fix it. They are doing the best they can at this point," Doty added. "Repairs will start when the weather permits."

North Bend's Engineering Manager Matt Whitty said he has probably heard many of the same complaints about road conditions from his city's residents.

He tells them the same thing as Doty - the temporary patches are not the final fix to the road.

"Crews are coming back once the weather permits and will repair the roads," he said.

Whitty said North Bend's involvement in the project has been limited to locating and marking the city's storm drains and sewer laterals for the pipeline crews. NW Natural also presents North Bend and the Coos Bay-North Bend Water Board with its proposed locations for lines for review, Whitty said. That allows North Bend to point to potential problems and air concerns with the company.

So far, North Bend roads have fared better than those in their neighboring city. Whitty said pipeline crews are mostly boring into the roads, near the sidewalks, and pulling the flexible pipes through.

"We've been following (the crews) along and identifying damage," Whitty said.

Henkels & McCoy are planning to repair the sidewalks and curbs that were busted during pipeline work when the weather permits, he added.

Residents weren't the only ones planning alternate routes to try to avoid running into long waits as construction crews worked or lines of stopped traffic.

Firefighters in both cities kept themselves abreast of construction crew movements and planned ways around them, often using side streets.

"We've tried to be cognizant of where (pipeline crews) are working and we take different routes," he said Coos Bay Fire Chief Stan Gibson.

North Bend Fire Department Assistant Chief Jim Brown said the biggest obstacle firefighters have faced lately was navigating their way through vehicles lined up in traffic jams, citing the December 2003 work on Newmark Avenue and Broadway Street as causing the worst problems.

"Things have gotten better though in recent weeks," Brown added. "We've been able to make it to all our calls without delay," he said. "We tried to avoid construction when we can."

Both Bay Area police chiefs said the pipeline construction project has had no noticeable affect on the departments' ability to serve and protect the public.

North Bend Police Chief Steve Scibelli said the most notable side effect from construction was an increase in the number of traffic accidents on Newmark Avenue during December.

"It seemed like we were over there on a daily basis," Scibelli said. "It made it really difficult to get west.

"For awhile, the whole town seemed like it was torn up," he added. "Around here people are not used to 'rush hour' traffic - here it's 'rush minute.' But when those minutes start adding up, people started getting a little frustrated by all the delays."

Coos Bay Police Chief Eura Washburn said her officers haven't had any delays getting to people who need assistance. She said pipeline crews inform the police where they are working and officers also brief each other about what they encounter during shifts.

"We really haven't had any problems. Sometimes we have to go a circuitous route from time to time," she said. "It's been inconvenient for all of us - citizens and police. Everyone's doing the best that can be done. (The pipeline) is going to be good for progress so we're all hoping it works out."