NORTH BEND — Potholes, cracks and other street maintenance problems on two main streets in North Bend will be smoothed away, after the city completes two projects to repair and resurface the roads later this year.

Earlier this month, the North Bend City Council agreed to allow City Engineer Matt Whitty to proceed with designs for the street overlay projects on Broadway Avenue, as well as on Sherman and part of Newmark avenues.

Areas of those streets with failed pavement will be removed and replaced, Whitty said. The Sherman Avenue project, which is about 2,300 feet long, will extend from the Coos Bay/ North Bend city limits, where Sherman Avenue becomes Koosbay Boulevard, and heads north to Newmark Avenue to U.S. Highway 101. The Broadway Avenue project is 1,400 feet long and begins at the city limits by the south side of the Goodwill, located at 3698 Broadway Ave., and ends at Newmark Avenue.

The city engineer said these streets are particularly important to repair because they are considered main collector and arterial streets with high traffic counts.

 “They are the most traveled streets that are in poor condition, so they are our highest priority,” Whitty said. “They are in need of rehabilitation and overlay. They are starting to get pretty rough.”

Among the areas that are in need of repairs include the Broadway Avenue bridge over Pony Creek.

“It’s probably the worst pedestrian bridge in Oregon,” Whitty said.

Whitty said the city has been saving its share of federal gas tax dollars, which are administered by the Oregon Department of Transportation, for several years and will be using that money for the costly road repairs. Each year, North Bend receives between $80,000 and 110,000, and to-date has salted away about $480,000 for the street projects. Willis said North Bend has accumulated these funds for street improvement projects for the past four or five years for major street improvement projects.

The estimate for engineering and construction for the Broadway project is about $180,000 and nearly $280,000 for Sherman Avenue.

“We’re hoping that we have enough money in the federal allocation to complete those projects,” Willis said. She added there is an obvious need to rehabilitate Broadway, Sherman and Newmark avenues.

The city will likely put the project out to bid late this spring, Whitty said, and work is expected sometime this year prior to the beginning of the rainy season in October.

“Overlay projects and rain do not mix,” Whitty said, adding that street closures have yet to be determined while the design process is being completed.