The Reason for the Walkway
Anyone who has walked along Ocean View (OV) Drive between Highway 101 and Beach Avenue is aware that this is a hazardous zone for pedestrians – there have been reports of people having to jump into the blackberries or teetering on the edge of the narrow gravel strip as vehicles pass by them on the road. Pedestrians continuing south towards the Yachats River are often forced to walk out into the street to get around cars parked at the intersection of Highway 101 and Oceanview (OV)Drive. This stretch is also a part of both the 804 and Oregon Coast Trails.
The Plan
A team made up of Yachats Trail Committee (YTC) leaders, a landscape design architect, our former Community Coordinator and Rick McClung of Public Works has been working on a design for a project that will remedy this situation by creating a new walking path. As well as creating a safe surface on which to walk, the project will also offer an aesthetically appealing experience for both residents and visitors.
The design calls for an 8-foot-wide walkway south of the current paved surface between Highway 101 and Beach Avenue with a Bay Overlook area that will invite folks to linger and enjoy the magnificent views. The wheelchair friendly walkway will be either a wood boardwalk or a stacked rock wall backfilled with gravel. The choice between the walled or decked version will depend not only the cost of materials and labor but also on which proves better in providing structural integrity, meeting the requirements of several state agencies, and minimizing ongoing maintenance.
Progress as of August 2021
The City Council has voted to approve the conceptual design and to authorize City staff to request bids for engineering. The project will be split into two parts:
- Part A, from Beach Avenue east to a point 15’ east of the stop sign on Oceanview Drive; and
- Part B, from 15 feet east of the stop sign to the ODOT right-of-way for Highway 101.
The reason for splitting the project into two parts is that, while Part A is ready to be engineered and built, the design for Part B will be dependent upon several factors that will take more time to determine: the fate of parking spaces at the east end of OV Drive, the design of the planned Farmstand which will be built at the old Landmark site, and the possibility of extending the sidewalk on the west side of Highway 101 south from its current terminus.
Ocean View Walkway Artist’s Depiction
Cost for this project will not be fully known until the engineering is completed. Thanks to the efforts of a generous landscape design architect, a professional conceptual design has been completed at no cost to the City, saving a considerable amount. Funding sources will include 804 Trail Mitigation Funds, Visitor Amenity Funds, grants, and tax-deductible donations (via View the Future). Estimates for engineering bids are currently being requested. Once engineering has been completed, the design can be finalized, and costs can be nailed down. At that point funding will be secured which may take a year or more.
Please send questions and/or comments to yachatstrails@gmail.com
