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Big road project�s neighbors can live with it Mail Tribune photos / Bob Pennell Larry Lane says he welcomes the extended McAndrews Road near his home because it will ease traffic congestion in east Medford, even though the fill under the new road blocks the view from his Silverbirch Street home. �Our view is all gone, but that�s OK� By Jessica Smith Larry Lane and his neighbors knew what was coming when they bought their east Medford homes. The freeway-style extension of East McAndrews Road, hailed as the biggest public works project in Medford�s history, stands just outside Lane�s front door on Silverbirch Street. "Our view is all gone, but that�s OK," said Lane, w ho moved to the neighborhood in April when he still had a view of nearby Hillcrest Orchard. What�s important, he says, is that workers complete the road. In fact, the road may open earlier than expected. City engineers say construction on the $6.3 million extension began in September and may conclude before the February deadline. The 1.8-mile extension will eventually connect McAndrews at Brookdale Avenue to an orphaned stretch of McAndrews in the Oregon Hills subdivision. But the city is building just the first section, from Brookdale to Foothill Road. Local developer Noel Moore plans to build the rest. "The road will be very usable up to Foothill" when the city finishes its work, said Bob Deuel, city engineer. "So it�s not a road to nowhere." That�s good news, Lane says. "It�s definitely needed for this part of town," he said. "The sooner they can get it to Foothill, the sooner it�ll relieve some of the congestion." Hillcrest Road has long served as the primary route into the city for residents in the foothill subdivisions below Roxy Ann Peak. But with continued growth in east Medford, overuse and congestion plague the winding, narrow road. The extension will provide immediate relief as an alternative route. Still, the situation is not ideal, neighbors say. "Everything was perfect about the house, but the road was the one drawback," said Donna Prosise, who recently relocated to Medford from Kansas and lives across the street from Lane. "We realized why this house was a little better deal � it looks right up a big road." Rather than speculate on what the new road will mean to nearby home owners, Prosise and Lane say they will just have to "wait and see" what becomes of their little cul-de-sac. "But I think if we can live with all the noise from the construction, the traffic will be no problem," Lane said. Although construction is moving along on the lower section of the extension, Moore�s portion of the project has been waylaid by a dispute with a land owner who has challenged the city�s right to condemn her property. Jane Hagel, who owns four acres above Foothill Road, is fighting the city�s decision to place the road through the middle of her property. A hearing on the matter is set Thursday before a Jackson County judge. Meanwhile, most of the extension�s lower section has taken shape, including a massive freeway-style overpass crossing at Foothill Road. On- and off-ramps will connect Foothill to McAndrews. Light posts have been erected, and a "sound wall" has been built along a portion of McAndrews to control noise. Crews this summer will redirect a portion of Lone Pine Creek away from one of the overpass off-ramps at Foothill. Workers also will begin landscaping and irrigation work on the overpass, engineers said. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA