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Business owners, ODOT spar over Highway 62 plan By JESSICA SMITH Some two dozen property owners say a plan to realign Highway 62 would hurt too many businesses. But a coordinator for the Oregon Department of Transportation said changes made to the original project design - which increase the number of displaced businesses from five to possibly 13 - came at the request of property owners. "When an area grows up and traffic is a problem, there are impacts" when roads are improved, said Frank Stevens, who is heading up the highway project. "We were trying to avoid as much as we could." Discussion The Oregon Department of Transportation has set a public meeting Monday to discuss the realignment of Highway 62. The project includes building a new Interstate 5 interchange and making improvements to Highway 62 between the interchange and Bullock Road. The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. at Lava Lanes, 2980 Crater Lake Highway. The project includes a new Interstate 5 interchange and upgrades to Highway 62, or Crater Lake Highway, between the interchange and Bullock Road. For the past 10 months, Stevens said, ODOT engineers have worked with the North Interchange-Concerned Business Owners group to modify the plans to reduce the project's effects on access and parking, among other things. The changes mean additional business closures, Stevens said. Scott McCollum, owner of the Rogue Regency Inn and a NICBO spokesman, conceded that he and other property owners suggested changes that would displace a greater number of businesses. But, he said, those businesses would not have survived under the original plan because they would have been cut off from Highway 62. "So we were left with commercial property with reasonable visibility and no good access," McCollum said. "We had to decide whether to get cut off at the ankle or cut off at the knee." Regardless, McCollum and others from the 27-member NICBO group said they want ODOT to step back from the project and find a way to preserve all the businesses in the area. "Everybody is in favor of traffic improvements, but the level of devastation that's going on with this plan is not necessary," McCollum said. At a press conference Thursday, NICBO members said the project's effects on businesses are unacceptable. Construction would displace five businesses - the International House of Pancakes, Denny's Restaurant, Best Western Pony Soldier Inn, Western Tool & Supply and a Chevron service station. It could displace eight others in the small mall by Rogue Regency Inn, including Carl's Jr. Restaurant. The project - intended to address safety concerns on Highway 62, including traffic delays and backups - is expected to cost about $20 million. Half the money goes to purchasing necessary rights of way. Transportation officials are expected to decide in May whether to move ahead with the work, Stevens said. The state also has the option of leaving the highway as is. Should officials choose to proceed, construction would start in 2003. Meanwhile, ODOT is collecting comments from the public on an environmental assessment of the highway project. The assessment addresses the project's affects on businesses, air quality and water resources, among other things. Comments are due by May 9. They may be sent to Greg Holthoff, Environmental Services, ODOT, 1158 Chemeketa St. N.E., Salem, OR 97301. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.