A sidewalk has been proposed for the west side of North Bayshore Drive in Coos Bay to handle pedestrian traffic along the highway.World Photo by Madeline Steege

Plans have surfaced again for a sidewalk to connect the motel area along U.S. Highway 101 with downtown Coos Bay.

Local landscape designer Mike Vaughan presented designs to the Coos Bay City Council to try to bring the concept to life.

Presented with the request for a sidewalk between the Red Lion Hotel and downtown, by the Flags and Flowers committee in February, the council voiced interest and little else. Vaughan crafted the design plans in response to the renewed interest in the sidewalk proposal he first suggested to the council several years ago and presented the council with drawings that feature an attractive sidewalk inviting tourists to explore downtown.

“There is nowhere for a visitor to get to downtown, from what I call the motel district, without driving,” Vaughan said. “This project is really just a concept at this point, but there are a lot of community members and businesses interested.”

The design plans focused on providing a paved surface for pedestrians on the west side of 101, to walk toward downtown without crossing the highway nearby the Timber Inn. As it is, there is no sidewalk along the front of the Red Lion and Lumbermens, only a gravel pathway that isn't wide enough for anything but single-file travel - which ends abruptly in a retaining wall. Vaughan's plans show a sidewalk running along the highway, south from Lumbermens, over the retaining wall and down again beside the King's Table Buffet.

This concept is similar to a proposal brought to the council years ago, which was estimated to cost about $200,000, and would undoubtedly cost more now, said Coos Bay City Manager Scott McClure. Cutting into the hillside and installing another 700-foot-long retaining wall beside the new sidewalk would also add to the cost, as the hill has proven to be geologically unstable in the past, McClure added.

Vaughan described the plans as a tourist attraction, especially as the view of the bay from a sidewalk over the current retaining wall would be almost completely unobstructed.

“What I'd like to do is showcase some of our heritage and history, and provide some design continuity on both sides of town,” he said. “This design concept would allow visitors entry to downtown, but also display the beauty of downtown. It could be welcoming, and also inviting.”

Investing in downtown

City councilors were very interested in Vaughan's designs.

“I think this is long, long, long over due,” Councilor John Muenchrath said. “I've seen people walking on that retaining wall before, and that's crazy.”

While other councilors weren't as enthusiastic as Muenchrath, several were supportive of the project.

Mayor Joe Benetti voiced concerns that local business owners should help shoulder the cost of a new sidewalk from the north side of town, a suggestion Benetti made to Coles in February.

“It is terrible there, and I know it. But I wouldn't want to get halfway through a project before asking business owners to put in sidewalks on their property,” Benetti said.

Councilor Jeff McKeown was more concerned about the cost of such a project, and was hesitant to install a sidewalk that would receive little use from the community.

“My guess is this is going be a very expensive project,” he said. “I think we need to keep in mind the possible use versus the cost.”

The cost of the project could prove to be much higher than the city is willing to pay, but the Urban Renewal District does include that part of town, and Benetti said the sidewalk could be funded through the Urban Renewal Agency.

In February the council requested McClure and the Flags and Flowers committee work together to ascertain the funding opportunities for the proposed sidewalk. At the meeting last week, McClure didn't have any new information on funding opportunities as he is waiting on a survey from the Oregon Department of Transportation on the feasibility of a sidewalk project in that location.

The results of ODOT's survey may not be available until the end of the year however, and without paying for private engineering studies on the project, the city won't have any idea how much it might cost. Without a price tag, applying for grants is out of the question, McClure said.

“If we did install it we would use Urban Renewal dollars or state gas tax money,” he said. “I don't think we would be very excited about doing a several-thousand dollar project when we can't afford to do our patching with the gas tax money as it is.”

The likelihood the city could get a grant from ODOT or other sources is pretty good, McClure added, but every grant would require a match of some kind from the city.

“Every grant has matches, none of them are 100 percent,” he said. “Sometimes you can't even apply because you don't have the match.”

According to McClure the alternative is to put in a pedestrian controlled stoplight near Timber Inn, which wouldn't change unless activated by a pedestrian. Either project could be very costly however.

Regardless of the funding questions, the proposal clearly appealed to most of the council. The city's economic development and revitalization efforts fit in well with increased pedestrian access to downtown.

Councilor Jon Eck said that with the First Street improvements and the Maritime Museum that will be built at the old Central Dock building, increased pedestrian access is the next natural step.

“This is really the entry-way to Coos Bay, and you will have a great view from that point. I think it would be a great place to walk in the morning and at sunset,” Muenchrath said. “I think we're fools if we don't pursue this. This is great.”