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Business owners tire of road work Photo by Bob Pennell Carl and Geneva Fuerst have seen their White City business, Mom's Kitchen, suffer because of the shifting traffic and construction on Highway 62. Highway 62 resurfacing set to end in October By KELLY STEWART Construction that has ripped up Highway 62 between Eagle Point and White City is supposed to end in October. It can't be soon enough for Carl Fuerst. "It's hectic," said Fuerst, owner of Mom's Kitchen on Highway 62 in White City. Customers can drive into the Mom's Kitchen parking lot from only one direction on the highway, Fuerst said. Some don't want the hassle of pulling in and out of the lot amid construction equipment and whizzing cars. When he asked the Oregon Department of Transportation to make it easier for customers to reach his business, workers placed an orange rectangular sign reading "Mom's Kitchen" near the restaurant's entrance to direct traffic. It hasn't helped. As a result of the road work that began in May 1998, business is down 25 percent, Fuerst said. "We took a gouge. We're trying to struggle through." Patrons from the nearby Veterans Affairs Domiciliary and a few other steady customers provide much of the restaurant's business, Fuerst said. By the end of August, Highway 62 will run four lanes wide from Medford to Eagle Point. Construction crews have been widening, and are now paving, a two-lane strip of the highway from Linn Road in Eagle Point to Dutton Road in White City, near the Domiciliary. In September, work will begin on Antelope Creek Bridge, the final part of the project. The whole $8.3 million highway widening and reconstruction project is expected to be completed by Oct. 1, said Larry Carson, project manager for ODOT. The project's end date is on target, and project costs are under the original bid, said Shawn Dawe, ODOT senior project inspector. ODOT crews were able to save $800,000 on the project by conserving paving material on the road, said Area Manager Monte Grove. That money was transferred to a project restoring portions of Sixth and Seventh streets in Grants Pass. Although the end of construction is near, Abby's Pizza in Eagle Point is doing all it can to survive the next two months. The pizza parlor is relying mainly on its old customers, said Rose Henney, a crew leader. "I have seen a few new faces, but not as many as I would expect for the growth in this area," Henney said. At its worst times, business has been down 70 percent, Henney said. Last week, crews blocked the entrance to Abby's parking lot for a few hours when they paved the highway. Suzie Purkett, owner of Academy Video in Eagle Point, said the video rental business is traditionally slow in the summertime, so the highway project has not affected her business much. But she witnesses the "chaos" outside her building. Two days last week, crews paved the highway starting at 4 p.m. "It was major rush hour traffic," Purkett said. "Everything has been a standstill." Henney said she understands that maintenance work on the highway needs to be completed, but she's hoping the work is finished soon. "It's been a long time -- months and months," she said. Fuerst said he's amazed that the road project has taken more than a year to complete, and crews have not started work on the bridge. "They're just dragging," he said. Purkett worries that customers will see the mess and stay away from businesses lining Highway 62. She said the businesses may lose customers for good. "People get in the habit of going someplace else," she said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA