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Boulevard work slows By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings New sod for Siskiyou Boulevard medians will be in place for Ashland's Fourth of July parade, but expect to see a familiar revolutionary message posted on the popular parade-watching spots: Don't tread on me. While most boulevard construction is going through a temporary slowdown leading up to annual Fourth of July activities in Ashland, workers this week will start laying down new sod along the Siskiyou Boulevard medians between Triangle Park and the Ashland Public Library. Sam Buck (far left) moves dirt from the median across from the new Ashland fire station and library Friday on Siskiyou Boulevard. This morning, Mark Eskitgis fills the same area with soil from his conveyor truck. Ashland Daily Tidings/DENISE BARATTA "There will be grass (in the medians) for the Fourth of July," Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown said. Most of the medians along the boulevard and Ashland Street are being replanted with native and drought-resistant plants, but during the community discussion on the boulevard landscaping, there was a strong push to keep the stretch leading into the downtown as grass, water conservation being outweighed by community tradition. Also a tradition is the annual practice of sitting on the grassy medians to watch the city's Fourth of July parade. As relatively mature sod, the grass will be much more resilient than new grass planted by seed, but it will not survive too much abuse. The recently growing practice of staking out spots on July 3 to watch the parade can be especially deadly to the young grass., vity officials warned. "We'll have almost a month before Fourth of July, and the sod is already a year old - it can withstand people walking on it right away," Brown said. "But an afternoon in the hot sun under a tarp can really kill the grass." Grass covered by a blanket or a plastic tarp through a hot afternoon and overnight is not likely to survive, Brown advised the Ashland City Council during a discussing of the issue at the June 2 council meeting. "Last year people started putting up chairs and blankets as early as noon on the third," Councilor Don Laws noted. "It was kind of ridiculous last year," Ashland Mayor Alan DeBoer said. "We hope people will bring their stuff in the morning (of July 4) this year." Brown plans to water the sod throughout the day July 3, and put up signs to keep away early claim-stakers. "If there are tarps and blankets put down early, we probably will remove them," Brown said. "Tarps and blankets are the worst," For the next few weeks, other work on the boulevard will be delayed for a combination of reasons, according to Brown. First, work must wait until new signal poles arrive. The poles were approved this past week by the Oregon Department of Transportation, and will likely take from two to four months to arrive. "We could not order the poles until we finally got approval, but we're trying to expedite the process," Brown said. The long stretch of wet weather through the spring also caused some delay, but contractor LTM Inc. has done about as much as it can working around the missing signal poles, city officials said. Intersections at Beach Street, Third and Gresham streets, East Main Street at Lithia Way and Sherman Street are set to be rebuilt with the new traffic signals and traffic flow designs. Those signals are needed as the intersections are expected to see more traffic with the permanent closure of the old boulevard median crossings at University Street and Palm Avenue, Avery Street, Alida Street, Liberty Street and Union Street. With local high school and college graduations, plus and increase in tourist traffic and looming July 4 festivities, the decision was made to hold off on heavy construction until later in July. "The slower pace is actually good news," Brown said. "Heavy equipment will be off the boulevard during graduations for SOU and Ashland High School and eliminate possible hazards as the community prepares for the July 4 celebration." DeBoer concurred with the decision. "Certainly I'm disappointed we didn't get more done before the Fourth, but I think it's a good decision," the mayor said. LTM will begin excavation on the west side of the boulevard heading south after July 4. Street excavation work will resume July 7. Work scheduled at that point includes: painting the existing median light poles; a retrofit of existing lights with lower-wattage bulbs; finishing sidewalks and driveways between Walker and Ashland streets; completing the median landscaping and planting grass; continuing electric underground work; pouring sidewalks and starting landscaping in the so-called "Gateway Island" between the library and Fire Station No. 1. The city will try to keep the two northbound lanes open through July 4. Paving will likely beginning in September, according to the Public Works Department. The entire $3.7-million project is set to be done by mid-November, and LTM has a final construction deadline of Dec 15. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. 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