Neighbors Oppose Ashland Rest Stop Plans

A proposed rest stop and welcome center is not getting a warm welcome from some Ashland residents.

The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to build the Siskiyou Welcome Center on Interstate 5 between exits 12 and 13. But those living nearby hope Jackson County leaders find a different location.

Sharon Miranda has lived on Crowson road for about five years. She says she loved the location because of the scenery and relative privacy.

"Privacy is huge to me because I can't live that way; I can't live with people looking at me and watching me.  I live in nature," says Miranda, whose property will border a service road that will provide access to the rest stop for employees and emergency vehicles.

Miranda already deals with interstate-five bordering one side of her property. She's worried the proposed Siskiyou Welcome Center and rest stop will ruin another part of her view and hurt her chances of ever selling the property.

"I'm already planning on coming up with some other place to live; some kind of like mobile unit or something since I don't know what's going to happen here."

And Miranda's not alone. Nearly fifty people, including ODOT officials, attended the Jackson County planning meeting Thursday morning.

Several neighbors got up and echoed Miranda's concerns.

Some of the neighbors say they're not against a rest stop and welcome center, they just don't want it so close to their homes. ODOT officials say they considered other options but found this to be the best location.

ODOT project manager Tim Fletcher explains, "We want to have it as close to the border as possible so that we're welcoming people as they're coming into Oregon, providing them with the greatest opportunity to receive information so they'll be able to plan their trips."

Fletcher says ODOT is hearing the public's concerns and is working to address the issues being raised.

"I've received phone calls, we've received letters from the public and we're really listening to all the feedback that we get from the public and considering it," says Fletcher.

But Miranda disagrees.

"Every way I've tried to communicate to them the impact this is going to have on me I've been rebutted with ‘well, that's not very important; it's minimal.'">

The Jackson County Planning Commission will continue taking public comments at their meeting on May 8.