City hammers out details on truck stop
Traffic and other infrastructure issues remain
to be resolved

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Sunday, April 13, 2008 3:49 AM PDT

The intersection of Washington Avenue and Yturri Beltline which will be remodeled under a City of Ontario, Oregon Department of Transportation plan. A new truck stop is planned for the area which will increase traffic.

Ontario - Ontario leaders are busy fine-tuning key details for a proposed Love’s Truck Stop to be situated near Washington Avenue and Yturri Beltline north of the city.

City leaders are working with Love’s Truck Stop to resolve several issues, including details regarding sewer, water and transportation fees.

The transportation fees are crucial because the city will need to construct additional traffic signals and complete other road work to accommodate the new facility.

“The upshot of it is, growth is going to have an impact on local transportation,” Interim Ontario Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson said.

The road work includes the construction of a new intersection to accommodate a boost in traffic once the facility is finished. The new intersection, officials said, will also make the area more appealing for hotels and motels because of easy access.

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At the Ontario Public Works Committee meeting Thursday, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick also said the new truck stop accentuates change in the area.

“Knowing that Love’s is coming, what follows a truck stop is what amounts to huge growth,” he said.

Mickelson also agreed the new truck stop will boost development in the area. He said once construction work is completed near the new truck stop, motorists will gain easier access from the interstate to the area.

“There will be more access from the freeway,” he said.

Plenty of work on the proposed project, though, remains. For example, one key issue now revolves around plans to expand Washington Avenue and the effect the change will have on the proposed truck stop. Mickelson said that issue is still being worked out. The entire Washington Avenue expansion will cost $300,000, but the Oregon Department of Transportation will pay $235,000 of that bill.

“The (expansion) contract has not been approved by the council,” Mickelson said.

The Love’s Truck Stop project will kick off at the same time another ambitious venture — the East Idaho Avenue rehabilitation — begins.

Both projects are cooperative ventures between the city and ODOT.

“We will give the city Washington Street, and they plan on making a new Washington Avenue with money we had from the interchange project,” ODOT South Area Manager Rena Cusma said. “We were going to just soften the curb but they requested we give them money to make a new Washington Avenue.”

She said the city will add left and right turn areas on the new Washington Avenue.

The East Idaho Avenue rehabilitation contract is currently in the draft stages but is moving ahead, Cusma said.

As for the truck stop itself, Ontario Planning & Zoning Administrator Evan MacKenzie said it will not be particularly large.

“It’s not really all that big,” he said. “It’s about 5,000 square feet, I think.  It’s going to have a Quik-E-mart and a Subway, with auto and diesel gas.”

Mickelson elaborated further on the specifics.

“The entrance will be about 500 feet from Beltline on Washington,” he said.

MacKenzie said the truck stop plans are also moving forward.

“The building permit has been submitted and is under review,” he said.

“At this point, I just have to sign off that this is an allowed use. It’s going off pretty well.”