Coos Bay parks commission backs Safe Routes to School priorities for Sunset and Marshfield; asks consultant to bundle Seventh Street work

The City of Coos Bay Parks Commission on an October work session recommended prioritizing construction-ready projects from an ODOT-funded Safe Routes to School planning effort for Sunset and Marshfield schools, and asked the consultant to bundle a set of Seventh Street improvements for Marshfield into a single grant-ready scope.

The recommendation came during a staff presentation of three reports produced by Alta Planning as part of a Safe Routes to School planning grant for three sites (Sunset Middle School, Marshfield and a site referred to as Destinations). Commissioners, school representatives and staff concentrated the commission's formal recommendation on two high-dollar, construction-focused projects for each school area and on several lower-cost items that the city could pursue separately.

Why it matters: construction grants administered by ODOT that the city hopes to pursue are typically in the $2 million to $3 million range, and developing design scopes and cost estimates is a prerequisite to applying. Commission members said the prioritized projects would provide the most direct safety benefit to students, families and neighborhood pedestrians while making the city more competitive for state construction funds.

Sunset area priorities

City staff and the project management team recommended two top infrastructure priorities for the Sunset area. The commission endorsed: (1) the top-ranked plan element—a connection that would extend Fillmore through school property to create a shared bus drop-off and pick-up loop serving Sunset and Madison schools, moving bus loading off the street and freeing traffic lanes for parent drop-off—and (2) a broader sidewalks/curb/striping package identified in the report (referred to in the report as Item 22) that includes stretches of Shoneman (Schoneman), Maryland and sections of Michigan Avenue. Commissioners also asked staff to include discussion of an upgraded crossing (Item 14) where student crossings would benefit from enhanced markings or an upgraded crossing treatment.

Commissioners and school staff discussed alternatives to full construction grants for smaller items (painted crosswalks, signage and minor curb improvements) and noted several ideas could be advanced with city renewal or other local funds while the larger projects seek ODOT construction funding.

Marshfield area priorities

For the Marshfield/Marshfield High School area, the commission reached consensus to push a bundled corridor project for South Seventh (improvements between Golden and Ingersoll and related segments) as a primary construction-focus item. Commissioners asked Alta to develop a single, grant-ready scope that groups the Seventh Street corridor fixes (crosswalks, curb/sidewalk improvements, signage and other pedestrian safety items) so the package could be cost-estimated and submitted as one proposal.

Commissioners also asked staff and Alta to consider incorporating two adjacent priority items (Items 6 and 7 in the report) addressing the bus loading area and the Ingersoll Avenue crossing near the auditorium so those safety needs are assessed within the bundled scope.

Other notes from the discussion

- The Safe Routes to School effort produced three reports: two infrastructure reports (one for Sunset, one for Marshfield that also covered Destinations) and one non-infrastructure report. The project management team that helped shape the reports included three city staff and a 12-member citizen group with representation from the Downtown Association, the Empire Coalition and ODOT. - Several participants said the consulting team did not sufficiently engage local stakeholders about the Destinations site, and the commission directed staff to raise that omission with ODOT and Alta. - Christina Teixeira, the city's grant administrator, said she had not identified alternative grant opportunities beyond the ODOT construction program at the time of the meeting; staff said they will continue to look for funding sources and to coordinate with the Urban Renewal Agency where appropriate.

Next steps and timeline

Staff will provide Alta Planning the commission's chosen priorities and ask Alta to: develop scopes of work, produce level-of-effort cost estimates for the prioritized projects (two per report as required by the planning grant), and investigate bundling options for the Seventh Street corridor. Once scopes and estimates are ready, staff intends to pursue ODOT construction grant(s) for the preferred projects. The commission will review the consultant's scopes and cost estimates at a future Parks Commission meeting before the formal grant submittal.

The commission did not take a formal vote during the work session; the record reflects consensus direction to staff and the consultant and an instruction to return with refined scopes and cost estimates for authorization and later potential grant submission.