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Students return in time for paving SOU classes start Monday, just as resurfacing begins along Highway 99 in city By BILL CHOY Ashland Daily Tidings As construction work on Siskiyou Boulevard continues, more delays are expected next week due to paving work. Beginning on Wednesday, paving will commence on the northbound side of Siskiyou Boulevard from Ashland Street to East Main Street and will end on Oct. 8. Paving is expected to resume on Oct. 20 and continue until Oct. 31. The work coincides with the first week of school at Southern Oregon University, where classes begin Monday. And there will be delays, City of Ashland Communication Manager Ann Seltzer said. "Traffic will slow down because you're reducing the space for cars," she said. "But there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. It will end and we will have a beautiful street." As paving progresses, traffic will be switched to the southbound side of Siskiyou Boulevard between Mountain Avenue and Ashland Street, then from Mountain Avenue to East Main Street. For safety and the smooth flow of vehicles, traffic will be channeled from the usual four lanes to two lanes - with traffic moving in both directions on the south side of the median, Seltzer said. The yearlong construction on Siskiyou Boulevard is expected to be completed sometime in November. Paving work will begin in the early morning and end in the afternoon. The more than 5,000 returning SOU students will add to the traffic, Seltzer said. "Inevitably, traffic will increase because (students) will be using their vehicles," she said. "We all have to be mindful traffic will increase." At SOU, officials are preparing for the influx of vehicles that the new school year brings to the campus. "The first week of the term is always hectic," said Craig Morris, director of business services at SOU, whose department is in charge of parking on campus. There are approximately 2,000 parking spaces for students, and an estimated 2,500 parking passes sold, Morris said. But there does not appear to be a lack of permit spaces available, he said. "I don't think there's ever a time students can't find a space on campus because the class times are staggered," Morris said. The most common parking citations on campus are when someone parks on campus without a sticker, or parks in the wrong parking lot. During the first week of school, warnings are usually given instead of citations, Morris said. "We're pretty lenient during the week and try to help them out," he said. Student parking permits are $66 a year, Morris said. Ashland Police Lt. Mike Bianca said parking is limited near campus, due to several streets restricting parking to residents and a limited amount of parking spaces available. He recommends students buy a parking permit. "The pressure of parking on the street is so high," he said. "Buy a permit and be able to park in one of the lots." A good alternative to driving to SOU is to take the bus, Morris said. A bus pass is free to SOU students who use the Rogue Valley Transportation District buses, he said. "It helps alleviate traffic in Ashland and provides more parking on campus," Morris said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -