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Historic city gets closer to bypass Panel backs route around Jacksonville With the help of the Jackson County Planning Commission, the long-discussed Highway 238 bypass of historic Jacksonville Thursday moved one step closer to reality. On a 4-0 vote, county planning commissioners designated a broad bypass corridor that leaves the current highway 1,000 feet north of the city limits and sweeps west across agricultural lands and rolling hills before rejoining Highway 238 via Par-a-dice Ranch Road. Both Jackson County commissioners and state land-use officials must approve the corridor as well. "We're not there yet, but we definitely took a giant step," said Jacksonville City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen. "It's a broad brush corridor. They basically blanketed a set of properties that may be affected by a final design of a roadway through there," he said. Some property owners opposed the corridor, but the designation doesn't prohibit development. Rather, the corridor serves notice that a highway may one day be built through their property. Designating the corridor could help Jacksonville officials persuade the Oregon Department of Transportation to make the bypass a priority. Regional transportation officials have already listed the project among the top four needed in Southern Oregon. Although 1997 legislative gridlock has clamped a lid on current spending for new highway projects, both Gov. John Kitzhaber and legislative leaders have made increased transportation funding a priority in the current session. A 6 percent increase in the gasoline tax is one funding mechanism under discussion. At today's prices, construction of the bypass would cost an estimated $26 million. If new highway construction money becomes available, Wyntergreen said a best-case timetable for construction would be four years. And though the worst-case timetable remains 20 years, he said city officials are encouraged by Thursday's first step: "It's forward motion." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA