Council accepts $2.75 million ODOT Safe Routes to School grant for Douglass Avenue improvements

The City Council voted Feb. 24 to accept a $2,750,000 Safe Routes to School construction grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to fund pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements on Douglass Avenue.

What was approved: the council adopted Resolution 2025-03 authorizing the city manager to accept the ODOT grant for the Douglass Avenue Improvement Project, which staff described as extending from Deer Creek to Patterson Street and including sidewalk and bicycle lane work on Rifle Range Road to Diamond Lake Boulevard.

Project scope and cost: staff said the construction scope will add 6-foot bike lanes and 6-foot sidewalks on both sides of Douglass Avenue, and will install a rapid-flashing beacon pedestrian crossing near Eastwood Park and Eastwood Elementary. The current total project cost estimate is $6,206,000; not all elements are grant-eligible. Staff told council that non-eligible items include travel-lane resurfacing, and that the city will also replace an approximately $800,000 water main on Douglass Avenue at the same time. Roseburg Urban Sanitary Authority (RUSA) has a utility redesign in progress with an estimated $1,600,000 contribution for its share of the work.

Funding plan: the grant covers $2,750,000. City staff showed a proposed local funding package that combines urban renewal, storm, sidewalk/street-light and transportation fund allocations (about $960,000), the water capital fund (about $900,000), and RUSA participation ($1.6 million) to cover the remainder.

Why this matters: staff said the Douglass Avenue corridor currently lacks safe pedestrian routes to Eastwood Elementary and that the improvements are intended to provide safe walking and biking access for students and neighborhood residents. The current Safe Routes cycle provided a 0% local cash-match for qualifying applicants; staff noted that previous cycles required larger local matches (48% in 2018, 20% in 2020 and 2022), so the grant reduced the city's direct cash requirement for eligible elements.

Council action and timing: Councilor motioned and seconded adoption of Resolution 2025-03; the motion carried on a vote of the council. Staff noted the city has five years from the agreement's effective date to complete the project and that the Douglass Avenue bridge over Deer Creek is scheduled for summer 2026, so the Safe Routes work would likely follow that schedule.

Questions and clarifications: councilors asked about project length; staff estimated the corridor at just under a mile (~4,500 feet). Councilors also asked which funds would be used locally; staff confirmed the mix shown in the memo and said urban renewal resources would be a portion of the local match (not state funding). Public-works staff and finance staff will bring project agreements, schedules and procurement items back to council as the design and construction phases are authorized.

Ending: council accepted the grant agreement and instructed staff to proceed with the grant execution and project planning.