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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 30, 2006 I-5 plan alarms Phoenix businesses Owners say two of the exchange options will ruin the downtown, but ODOT, the city say nothing will be decided without discussion By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune PHOENIX — Downtown business owners are up in arms over two recently endorsed design alternatives to rebuild the failing Interstate 5 interchange here. Both alternatives would wipe out most of the downtown along Highway 99, they say. The plans, all of which are open to changes, are in early stages of consideration and include the choice of doing nothing at all, officials say. A final decision is two years away. Still, business owners are organizing to make sure they can voice their opposition to the city and state if necessary. The more than $40 million interchange rebuilding program by the Oregon Department of Transportation calls for improved access and traffic flow through the city’s central business district. Advertisement While four design alternatives have been under review for much of the past year, a project development team (made up of representatives from ODOT, Jackson County, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the city) formally selected two design alternatives this month for environmental assessments. One alternative calls for a new interchange structure over Interstate 5 that connects with the new alignment of North Phoenix Road on the east and Bolz Road on the west. The other alternative would use a new interchange structure and creates a new connection with North Phoenix Road on the east, aligning it with Bolz Road on the west. If built as planned, both alternatives would lead to a widened Highway 99 through downtown that would run directly through an 18-unit shopping center fronted by Jeanette’s, both downtown gas stations, Nim’s Scratch & Dent, Carquest, Phoenix Automotive and Advanced Transmission, among other businesses. Business owners held an impromptu meeting Thursday night, quickly forming what they have dubbed the Phoenix Association of Business and Property Owners. "If they build it like they show on the maps, it’s gonna wipe us out," said Nim’s owner Donna Klosterman. "Of course, none of this is set in stone yet, but it’s going to be one of those (cases) that the government does what it wants. Sure you can send your comments in, but they’re trying to divert the traffic from south Medford and they’re gonna wipe out the city of Phoenix to do it." Stan and Caroline Bartell, owners of Phoenix Automotive, who said they were displaced during another project along Highway 99 some 15 years ago, are concerned about lack of notice by the city, though no decision has been made. Stan Bartell said the city was being "sacrificed" to alleviate traffic for south Medford. "What they’re doing is putting in a ‘toll’ road that tens of thousands of people are gonna use but the only ones who have to pay are the businesses in the downtown," he said. "This is not gonna end with us laying down and saying, ‘OK, ODOT you can have your way!’ " Gary Leaming, an ODOT spokesman, said Friday that the two design alternatives are open for discussion in addition to a "no-build" alternative — and a final decision is two years away. "I want to underscore that these are just concepts. They are not cast in stone. There are lines that can be moved, refinements that can be made � we’re gonna work with the city of Phoenix to look at some changes we could make to better serve the community," said Leaming. The two designs will soon be submitted for an environmental assessment to be completed by late spring, then followed by a 45-day public comment period. The project is scheduled to go out for bid around 2008, with construction to get under way the same year. Tani Wouters, owner of Advanced Transmission, said she would not wait for a comment period, but has begun rallying business owners. "You cannot mow down an entire town and keep it quiet," said Wouters. "We do the transmissions for the Oregon Department of Transportation and they are cutting our throats. ODOT is trying to solve a regional problem with our little city." Wouters said she also felt the city had obligated itself to "let ODOT do whatever it wants" by helping fund the interchange as an incentive for ODOT to rescind an appeal on a Home Depot proposed for the opposite side of the interchange. "Our city sold us out for $2 million dollars to secure the Home Depot site," said Wouters. "The first thing that was said by the mayor was that the City Council would get to vote on this, but they get two votes out of seven. What that means is they don’t decide." Mayor Vicki Bear said the city would, in fact, have a say in the process. "ODOT has been very willing to work with us and this is a process that everybody is looking at. The city is behind the businesses and we’re also partnering with ODOT," said Bear. "I think it would be devastating to our community and the way that Phoenix looks to take out our entire downtown." She added, "Is there a possibility that they don’t have to do anything to 99? Yeah. That’s a possibility, however, people have to keep in mind the traffic will be backed up at lights. � On the other hand, are we willing to see our business removed from the downtown or displaced? No, we’re not willing to do that." Leaming said ODOT is "more than willing" to help find a solution everyone could live with. After significant input from Bear Lake Estates residents regarding the interchange, ODOT modified the designs, he noted. "The thing I’d really like to get out there is that we’re still very early in the process The environmental assessment is not even finished and the lines you see are not the final product," Leaming said. "There’s no question when you do this kind of a project that there are impacts. "The goal is to address city and community concerns and meet the needs of the traveling public at the same time." A public hearing is set for Feb. 15 at Phoenix High School; the time has yet to be announced. Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford.E-mail her at [email protected]. On the Web www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION3/fvi_index.shtml Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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