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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us August 23, 2005 Walden stops briefly in Phoenix Visit to Fern Valley interchange kicks off representative’s tour of Southern Oregon By Anita Burke For the Tidings After helping secure $7.4 million in federal transportation funds to upgrade the Fern Valley interchange on Interstate 5, Rep. Greg Walden visited the busy Phoenix exit Monday to see how the project might take shape. Walden, a group of transportation officials and civic leaders including Phoenix Mayor Vicki Bear looked at a conceptual plan that a project development team and citizen advisers have proposed. “We haven’t finalized any alternatives yet,” Bear said. Oregon Department of Transportation project specialist Gary Leaming said the department is working on a draft environmental assessment and developing possible designs to be evaluated in hearings later. The public can view the proposals at an open house from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at Phoenix’s City Hall, 510 W. First St. In addition to the $7.4 million Congress approved this month specifically for the project, the interchange work is funded with $6 million of general federal transportation funds, $23 million of state transportation improvement money and $7 million from local sources including the city of Phoenix and Home Depot, whose building plans in the area helped spark the urgent upgrade, Leaming said. State transportation officials also briefed Walden on other regional projects, including work on both Medford interchanges, improvements to the Highway 62 corridor and a Highway 99 expressway in Grants Pass, Leaming said. Walden is scheduled to meet today with Medford Mayor Gary Wheeler to learn about the safe sidewalks program to build sidewalks near schools. The program received $2.8 million in federal money in the same package that funded the Phoenix interchange. Walden plans to spend the week touring Southern Oregon to learn about critical issues and tout his own efforts on such causes. Topics include transportation, health care, culture, economic development and the fight against meth. Other stops included a visit Monday to Oregon Shakespeare Festival to discuss National Endowment for the Arts funding, and a closed tour today of Rogue Valley Medical Center. He’ll be in Grants Pass Wednesday and the Klamath Basin later in the week. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams