The conflict between big trucks and small cars rounding the corner together at Eighth and Commercial streets is only one of the problems an advisory group has identified at that busy downtown intersection.

Members of the Astoria City Council heard details Monday at a work session before their regular meeting.

Carole Richardson, Northwest area manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation, said there are a number of problems.

They include:

vehicles that don’t turn, but “zoom through” the intersection, accelerating in preparation for climbing Eighth Street hill;

traffic entering Commercial, which is also U.S. Highway 30, by crossing Eighth Street from the Post Office side;

cars turning right onto Commercial from the stop sign at the southeast corner of Eighth and Commercial;

too many distracting signs as vehicles on Marine Drive approach the intersection.

Stressing that the ideas she was presenting are “just ideas, not ODOT concepts,” Richardson said they are grouped into three categories: things that can be done right now, such as improving signage; developing an overview of the street network as a whole for ideas on how to reroute traffic; and looking at major improvements to the road such as realigning Marine Drive with Commercial by carving a new route. Realignment would require removing some buildings.

“Some ideas will be real hard sells for ODOT and real hard sells for the community,” Richardson said, and she asked the council to let her know right away “if there is a vision you have of downtown and this doesn’t fit with it.”

Mayor Willis Van Dusen said he would attend the next meeting of the 38-member advisory group, which is to be a stakeholders’ workshop 4 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Heritage Museum.

Renovating the restrooms at the Doughboy Monument at the intersection of West Marine Drive, Bond Street and Columbia Avenue in Uniontown topped the agenda when the council convened in regular session.

Rae Goforth, introduced by Van Dusen as the “Mayor of Uniontown,” said the Uniontown Association is collecting money for the renovation in small wooden “banks” that look like outhouses. Cost of the project is estimated at $30,000. The city has received a $10,000 state grant, and the association expects to raise the rest through donations. The council directed city staff to work with the association to develop a more detailed construction budget for the project.

Paving will go forward on several streets, using most of the $185,000 in road district funds still left from the $886,913 contract awarded to Bayview Transit Mix last year. The council authorized city staff to execute a change order for the additional work. Streets to be paved include portions of Williamsport Road, Seventh Street, Nita, Auburn and Fifth Street.

At the request of citizen Ernie Barrows, Third Street between Niagara and Lexington avenues may be added.

Todd Scott, Astoria’s community development director, provided information about a downtown parking study under way. He said from six to eight of the 22 driveways downtown appear to be unused. He was authorized to go forward with converting them to parking spaces.

James Hanson, a resident of the Williamsport area, asked the council to remove a rotting 150-foot spruce located on Grant Street, which he said is “monstrous” and ready to fall. “You could lose a taxpayer if it fell,” Hanson said. It was a convincing argument, and the council directed staff to look into cutting the tree down.

In other business, the mayor proclaimed today as 4-H Japanese Exchange Student Day, and the council approved several items on the consent calendar, including a 3.25 percent cost-of-living wage increase for all non-union city positions.