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Residents urge ODOT to fix hazardous signage, ADA ramps and a closed park access during Coos Bay public comment
Summary
Two Empire‑area residents told the Coos Bay City Council and Planning Commission about roadway and safety problems they say need ODOT attention: contradictory speed/bike signage, poorly executed ADA ramps, and a closed Lower Lakes access that still displays an open sign. Staff asked residents to provide documentation for follow up.
During the public comment period at a Coos Bay City Council and Planning Commission joint work session, two Empire‑area residents urged city staff and state officials to address perceived safety hazards on local roads and parks.
“Okay. Thank you. Mike Powder, Main Street, Empire area,” began Mike Powder during the first public comment slot. Powder told the council that a city sign directing cyclists into the roadway sits on a single‑lane stretch of road posted 35 mph with a double yellow line and that, just across the city line, drivers encounter a 40 mph sign. He said the discrepancy and the placement of signage are likely contributing to low cycling activity and create a hazard. Powder also said he had photographed ADA curb ramps that he estimated ODOT spent about $400,000 installing but described them as “not ramps” — “they’re just the ends of sidewalks where they put in a little yellow strip,” he said — and questioned their usefulness because connecting access had not been provided.
Powder asked that the city staff review the photos he had collected; Mayor Benetti asked Powder to give his document to Nicole and staff so they could follow up.
Dean Lundy, an Empire resident and former San Francisco firefighter, told the council he and other letter writers have repeatedly pressed ODOT about left‑turn safety across U.S. 101 at a location near a new Planet Fitness, and he warned a left turn from that location could produce a multi‑casualty incident. Lundy said ODOT told the community it would study conditions dating back many years; he expressed frustration that the agency had long known about the problems. Lundy also said he is developing a youth scout base at the old Union Oil terminal dock site and described the dock as a 900‑foot facility where a small marina for children was planned.
Mayor Benetti acknowledged the comments and the number of communications the city and ODOT have received and told Lundy there appeared to be some movement on the issues after the letters and the planned study. No formal action was taken at the meeting; the session was a work session and the council did not vote. Staff asked the speakers to provide supporting documents and images so city staff could investigate and, where appropriate, coordinate with the Oregon Department of Transportation.
