As the shadows start to lengthen on Ocean Boulevard at Central Avenue, so do the lines of vehicles, waiting to be flagged through the construction zone Tuesday afternoon. World Photo by Lou Sennick

You can't get there from here.

That was sometimes the rule for drivers on rural roads during the construction of the main natural gas pipelines by MasTec and for city drivers with NW Natural's installation of the laterals.

Bus drivers quickly learned they'd have to be patient and flexible in transporting students to and from school. Susan Shepherd, transportation coordinator for the Coquille School District, had to find alternate ways to reach students in a couple of areas.

"I had to rebuild two routes," Shepherd said, "rerouting buses to get to McKinley."

She said the alternate routes were, indeed, "the long way around," adding about 80 miles per day to the bus routes.

She said as the pipeline construction got under way in the rural areas of Coquille, bus drivers soon learned to anticipate obstacles and detours.

They had some help in the planning.

"I worked real close with MasTec," Shepherd said, "in determining where the work was going to be going on."

In all, Shepherd said there were only one or two minor glitches in her communications with the pipeline installers.

"One bus got held up for about 10 minutes," she said, "but for as many weeks as they were working on it, I don't think that's bad," she said.

That sentiment was echoed by Pat Robertson, the manager at Laidlaw Transit, which is transporting Coos Bay School District students through streets where lateral lines are now being installed.

"The only difficulty is the delays," Robertson said on Friday, "and having to re-route to get the kiddos to school on time."

But Robertson added that hasn't happened very often.

"We haven't had major problems - a few buses stuck in traffic and maybe a few minutes late to school."

In North Bend, the road hasn't been quite so smooth, but at North Bend Bus Co., lead trainer Donna Smith still had her sense of humor.

"Problems?" she said, with a laugh. "Oh yes - delays, delays, delays."

Smith said the construction work has been quite a challenge at times.

"It was unreal trying to keep to our schedules," she said. "We know there are little children out there waiting and we've been late getting to them and late getting them to schools."

But most of the problems have been manageable, Smith said, and she was quick give credit to district patrons.

"We're really fortunate that we have parents and students who were understanding and patient," she said.

Patience was a virtue for drivers and customers of the Yellow Cab Co., as well, although according to company owner Dick Leshley, construction resulted in relatively few bumps in the road.

"It was somewhat inconvenient," Leshley said, "but on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say a 2."

The cab company owner said his drivers always were able to get where they needed to go.

"There are always alternate routes," Leshley said. "When we found work going on in one area, we just shifted to a different route."

Bruce Latta, owner of Bay Cities Ambulance, also reported some route shifts for his emergency vehicles.

"Some of the work plugged up traffic," Latta said, "but we always got around it. And flaggers allowed passage for emergency vehicles."

Latta chalked up the minor problems as just the price you have to pay.

"It's been an inconvenience," he said, "but it's an inconvenience we have to put up with to get some progress."