front page “news” today:

By Rachel Thomson

OCEAN SHORES — During daylight hours, construction crews in orange-and-yellow striped sweatshirts are scraping dirt with shovels.  A backhoe rumbles to life, beeping loudly while its tires squish over mud as an operator throws the switch in reverse. Drivers look cautiously out their windows while navigating through detours, which change almost daily.
By nightfall, the banging and clanging of road work in Ocean Shores has stopped, but driving through town is like wandering through a graveyard of traffic cones.
Residents have complained all the construction chaos has made it frustrating to get from point A to point B, while some business owners have said that all the traffic revisions have caused them to lose up to 30 percent of their sales during the tail end of summer.
Construction projects — such as the re-paving of all the city’s roads funded by a local improvement district, the addition of sidewalks to major throughways courtesy of the state transportation improvement board, and now a new roundabout — all seem to be going on simultaneously. Many residents have expressed support for beautifying their town, but according to city officials, some of the most-asked questions are why the construction is happening all at once and when it will be completed.
Construction for all city roads and projects should be done by the end of December, with the bulk of it finished by mid-to-late November, according to public works director Ken Lanfear.
Lanfear said all the construction projects in the downtown area being scheduled simultaneously was intentional.

While the FOTR judges sort through the balloting on the “controversial” history pic, here’s an instant-history photo for captioning, the brand new sidewalk in front of the Library.

library sidewalk web

First prize: No over-due fees, for an entire month.

Second prize: The name of the flagger “fired for rudeness” last week.

Please enjoy your drive along . . . freshly paved Pt. Brown Avenue!

pt brown paved web

Daily World’s Jilian Beaudry writes up last night’s meeting:

OCEAN SHORES — Driving through Ocean Shores is like driving on Mars.

The terrain is uneven, bumping drivers and passengers along at 15 mph while trying to avoid running into large orange traffic cones and yellow tape.

“It looks horrendous,” one angry homeowner shouted at a town hall meeting with the city at the Convention Center Wednesday night.

Last night, a “Town Hall” meeting on the Roundabout and Street LID construction projects was held at the Convention Center (NBCTV was there taping, so look for it on Channel 68). Mayor Dean Bunkers and Ken Lanfear, director of Public Works, sat at the front of the room and fielded questions from the 40 representatives of businesses and citizens in attendance. Leslie Reedy, director of the local Chamber of Commerce, began the Town Hall by saying “I called this because I was bombarded with calls.” She cited some of the biggest frustrations she is hearing:  “a lack of communication, and that the average that everyone is down (in sales) is 30 percent. And a lack of real visible signage that directs people.”

“I understand some of the frustrations and aggravations,” Mayor Bunkers responded. “But if we didn’t get this done this year and had to drag into next year the pain would be much worse.”

After what appeared to be initial reluctance, business people eventually shared their issues. Representatives alike from big businesses like the IGA and McDonald’s and small shops such as First Cabin and Sand Castle Drive In (owner Dave Creighton, who as a city councilman you might think would be informed), made similar complaints about a lack of coordination, communication of water outages and advance notice of paving that blocks business access.

Regarding communications: “I’m the guy who needs to take a hit,” said Lanfear. “I have to apologize if there’s been coordination problems out there, they have to fall back on me.”

He said the Street LID could be done by Oct. 23. “The Roundabout completion was (originally) mid November. We’re still tracking pretty well.”

More in next week’s North Coast News.

On Roundabout/Street LID, with Mayor Dean Bunkers and Public Works Director Ken Lanfear: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6 p.m., Convention Center.

From the Chamber of Commerce: 

We’ve scheduled a meeting with Mayor Bunkers and Ken Lanfear tomorrow evening, Wednesday, October 7th, 6:00 pm at the Convention Center.  Both Dean and Ken will be available to answer questions and provide information about these two projects.

“The Curves’ Ladies would like to share a “lighter side” of our infamous Round-about construction! Curves Cares…thank you to everyone who ventures out each day to support our local businesses and each other!

curves roundabout

For this bit of fun, Curves just became “The Official Gym of the Friends of the Roundabout.”

Posted on the city’s web site

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
NOTICE OF SCHEDULE CHANGE
Due to inclement weather, the paving for Ocean Shores Boulevard has been rescheduled for Monday, October 5th –Tuesday, October 6th.

Thursday, October 1, 2009
Paving: Chance a la Mer Beach Approach / Parking Area (Between the Shilo and Cloud Nine)

Monday, September 28, 2009
Paving:
- Ocean Shores Boulevard NW
(Between Pt. Brown Avenue and Ensign Avenue)
- Chance a la Mer Beach Access / Parking Lot
(Between the Shilo and Cloud Nine)
Pavement Repair:
- Pt. Brown Avenue – Southbound Lanes*
(Between the City Gates and the Roundabout Project Area)
*The southbound lanes of Pt. Brown Avenue are scheduled
to be paved on Thursday, October 1st.
If you have any questions about the paving project,
please contact the LID Clerk at 289-2754.