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66 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 13, 2005 Valentine’s Day brings progress to the heart of Gold Hill By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune GOLD HILL — The city’s got a lot to celebrate when it holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Valentine’s Day. There’s the $2.3 million renovation of Highway 234 through town, completed last month, that brought with it new sidewalks, storm drains, lighting and landscaping. There’s the new 5,000-square-foot, $946,000 library, with community room, children’s garden and computer stations. And there’s a whole passel of new street names that’ll make navigating Gold Hill a little bit easier. The Oregon Department of Transportation’s highway repaving project presented an opportunity to resolve a confusing situation in Gold Hill, explained Public Works Director Royal Gasso. Advertisement "There was a push for some time to change the name of city streets from a double-numbered grid," said Gasso. "It was confusing for people doing deliveries and even emergency services." East-west routes were numbered avenues; north-south routes were numbered streets. The city decided to change the numbered streets instead of the numbered avenues because most people have their addresses on the avenues, Gasso said. "Doing it that way only affected about 70 people," said Gasso. Most of the formerly numeric street names now reflect local historical figures. And the highway project paid for several of the new street signs, he said. Gold Hill contributed $300,000 to the development project for new lightingand landscaping. "We planted a variety of 23 new street trees," said Gasso. "We hand-picked them from the (tree) farm." The ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Monday near the bridge over the Rogue River.While the projects have improved the town’s function and appearance, having Highway 234 under construction for 10 months took a toll on many local businesses. Louis Smart owns Steamboat Coin Laundry and rents three adjacent business properties located midtown on Highway 234. Smart says his renters were not as affected by the construction because of the nature of their businesses. But Smart’s Laundromat lost up to 75 percent its income for several months. "We went from around $700 to $800 a week to down around $200 to $300 a week," said Smart. "It was tough. And the snow didn’t help." But things are slowly getting back to normal, he said. "We back to around $500 the past week or so," he said. Smart said merchants are hoping the Valentine’s Day ribbon-cutting celebration, set for 10 a.m. near the bridge over the Rogue River, will demonstrate the town is open for business and help them regain lost revenues. The public is invited to attend the ceremony. Street-name changes Old New First Street Ambrose Street Second Street Beeman Street Third Street Chavner Street Fourth Street Dardanelles Street Fifth Street Estremado Street Sixth Street Fredenburg Street Seventh Street Gustaf Street Eighth Street Hays Street Ninth Street Ideal Street Tenth Street Jacoby Street Eleventh Street Kellogg Street Twelfth Street Lafayette Street Thirteenth Street Marksbury Street Fourteenth Street Norris Street Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s