Pateros ponders Warren Avenue sidewalk project

PATEROS – The City Council met in special session last Monday, August 5, and approved an application to the state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) for funding to extend a sidewalk on Warren Avenue, Phase 2, from Chris Street to Riverside Drive.
That sounds simple enough and most of us take sidewalks for granted as one of the more mundane maintenance jobs a city routinely does. But the reality is that sidewalks are complicated and sometimes even contentious undertakings that require plenty of detail along with the blessings of residents affected.
The city has applied to TIB twice before for the Warren Avenue project and has been rejected both times in the competition for limited funding - $3 million for small cities statewide – for the proposed $330,000 project.
City Administrator Jord Wilson met with city engineers Varela & Associates to revise the plan for a better shot at getting approved the third time around. The new guidelines include:
1. Narrowing the westbound lane of Warren to 11 feet, the maximum TIB recommended width for a local road (the lanes of U.S. 97 passing through Pateros are 11 feet wide).
2. Include a gravel swale - the least expensive to install and maintain - to capture groundwater, a TIB requirement.
3. Warren from Chris to Riverside is the city’s number one for speeding vehicle complaints. Narrowing the westbound width and providing a separation between pedestrians and the street will help reduce speed and increase pedestrian safety, a major TIB goal.
While the new design enhances the city’s chances of approved funding, council member Holly Bange raised an issue that council members must consider down the road, so to speak. Bange, who lives on the portion of Warren that will be altered by a new sidewalk, said her neighbors are not in favor of a change to its present condition if the improvements reduce or eliminate extra parking space along Warren. As it is now, visitors or guests can park along Warren and Bange said that some of the driveways do not allow parking multiple vehicles. A sidewalk and curbing as proposed would compromise extra parking.
Following a prolonged discussion, the council approved the funding application that must be submitted by August 16 and agreed to revisit Bange’s concerns if and when the funding is approved.