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CLEAR Temp: 59 °F Wind: NE at 6 mph Monday, May 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 14, 2003 Ashland High School students wend their way through construction and traffic on Siskiyou Boulevard. A large-scale redesign project should be done by the middle of November. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Ahead of schedule, but a maze for now Drivers and pedestrians cope with Ashland’s Siskiyou Blvd. project that is due to end in mid-November By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Drivers and pedestrians alike will be glad to know the redesign of Siskiyou Boulevard is a month ahead of schedule — though its completion is still another seven months away. Ashland police report no major traffic safety issues with the construction, which has turned the once wide boulevard into a maze of single lanes, traffic cones and gravel mounds. But for pedestrians and drivers, negotiating the 1.1-mile zone hasn’t been easy. "It’s construction. What can I say?" said Kristopher Maas as he walked home from work Saturday, dodging construction cones and "Sidewalk closed" signs. Noting the stream of traffic inching along a single lane toward downtown, Maas said walking probably was still easier than trying to drive through the construction zone. "It hurts my ankles," Ashland resident Sarah Weller said as she trekked across rubble that used to be a crosswalk at the corner of Siskiyou Boulevard and Morse Street. To ease up on her ankles and feed her sense of adventure, Weller said she brings out her mountain bike to hop broken curbs, skid through loose gravel and at night, when construction crews have gone home, speed down the lanes set aside for workers. "It’s kind of fun at night on a mountain bike," she said. Earth Friendly Kids, a consignment shop at 505 Siskiyou Blvd., has seen its business dwindle as people skirt the construction, said owner Cate Jennings. "People are doing all they can to avoid Siskiyou," she said. "It’s a double hit with the fire station being built next door. This is just a corner no one wants to go near." The shop has been in business for eight years, so it has loyal customers who still make it in, she said. Despite what the construction has done to their nerves, it has made drivers more cautious, police said. "It must be the greatest traffic calming project of all time," said Ashland police Lt. Mike Bianca. The Siskiyou Boulevard redesign will include improved medians to limit cross-traffic between intersections, narrower lanes to slow traffic and better- defined crosswalks to make pedestrians safer. Construction has slowed a bit while plans for traffic signals are finalized, said Karl Johnson, a city engineer, but the city still expects the project to be completed a month ahead of schedule. A review of signal plans under way at the Oregon Department of Transportation could delay the signals’ delivery by as much as four months. The agency has an agreement with the city to maintain the signals, even though the city has taken possession of the boulevard. The realignment of Beach and Morse streets where they meet the boulevard probably will be done this summer, rather than in the spring, because of the signal delay. Traffic has been shifted nearer to the median to allow for work on curbs and sidewalks, while leaving room for the safety of landscape workers. Curb work should be finished in about three months. Paving is still expected in early August. Grinding work will precede the paving. The city and contractor LTM Inc. may work at night to avoid daytime traffic problems. "Everything is going well. We’re on or ahead of schedule," said Dale Lininger, general manager of LTM. "We’ve not run into any difficult areas that have caused us a great deal of problems." Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Reporter Anita Burke contributed to this story. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S