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The city of Ashland is continuing to take steps to get ready to, in a few years, build a $5.5 million bridge joining East and West Nevada Street across Bear Creek, providing access for the Bear Creek Greenway to continue past the dog park, following the creek to North Mountain Park. The city already has $2.5 million in hand — $1 million from Systems Development Charges and $1.5 million from a Surface Transportation Fund federal grant — and has retained former state legislator Al Densmore to lobby during the 2017 state legislative session for the remaining $3 million. The bridge will become an important transportation route, but not a heavily traveled one, connecting Oak Street and North Mountain Avenue at the north ends, for safe, two-lane access (25 mph) to Helman Elementary School and the Eagle Mill route to Medford, says city Public Works Director Mike Faught. A simple bridge may have joined Nevada Street long ago, but it was wiped out by the 1974 flood, says Ashlander Tom Foster of the Bear Creek Greenway Foundation — however, Faught says, aerial photos from the 1950s don’t show it. If it did exist and it was washed away, “we could go after a whole different pot of money,” says Faught, perhaps from FEMA. Anyone with old photos or memories of the earlier bridge should contact him. The bridge will be elevated to maintain the grade of Nevada, and will have two vehicle lanes, with bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways. Nevada before and after the creek will have space for plants by the road. Nevada is now a dirt road between Oak and the creek. It is paved as it rises on the east side toward Mountain Meadows Retirement Community. The new extension of the Greenway will address a long-neglected part of Ashland, taking off from the dog park, going south next to some new development, turning left onto Nevada Street, crossing on the new bridge and turning right beside the creek to existing Riverwalk Park and North Mountain Park, says Foster. Greenway folk tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for easements or purchase with a few owners of lots on the west bank of the creek, so had to shift to the east side, says Foster. They explored passage through the Mazor mansion property, but, Foster notes, given complications, prices and the shifting nature of the creek’s course, felt it best to put the Greenway down Nevada Street. “The Greenway is pretty much complete on the north end (Central Point),” says Foster, “We did Talent to the dog park in 1998 and now it’s time for this part.” He said it would be followed later with the section between North Mountain Park to Willow Wind School. The ultimate destination is at Emigrant Creek by Ashland airport. Talk occasionally pops up about a third Ashland interchange, feeding to Mountain Avenue, but Faught says Oregon Department of Transportation told him the distances between Ashland’s two interchanges aren’t big enough. “This (Bear Creek) bridge,” he says, “is a great idea, an important connection and good alternate route. It’s estimated to remove 117 vehicles a day from North Main and forms a good transportation route.” Engineering on the bridge will be done in the next six months, he says, with completion projected for 2018. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. null