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Help due for Phoenix exit Photo by Bob Pennell Plan to fix busy interchange will be aired at open house Thursday By Wendy Siporen PHOENIX � Imagine driving south on Interstate 5, getting off at the Phoenix exit and hitting a green light to turn left onto Fern Valley Road. That's right: a green light. No more waiting an eternity for a convoy of semitrucks to get on or off the freeway. Plans to improve traffic flow at the interchange, including traffic signals and the realignment of North Phoenix and Luman roads, will be presented at an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Phoenix Elementary School library. But don't expect the improvements any time soon. Construction of the $2.45 million Oregon Department of Transportation project is set to begin in late summer 2002 and take two years to complete. ODOT project leader Debbie Timms says that both off-ramps have been identified as "failing," meaning cars have to wait so long to turn left onto Fern Valley Road that traffic can back up onto the freeway during peak commute times. Increasing congestion in the area is the proximity of three roads to the off-ramps: Luman Road (which provides access to Bear Lake Mobile Estates), North Phoenix Road and Pear Tree Lane. The rise of the overpass decreases visibility and increases the danger in the area, said Timms. In the five-year period from 1994-1998, ODOT reports two rear-end accidents at the northbound off-ramp and five at the southbound off-ramp, three of them involving injuries. "It's not a high-accident area," said Timms. "The potential is there. � There's probably a lot of close calls." To make the new traffic signals work properly, North Phoenix Road will be extended east to intersect Fern Valley Road at the beginning of the new Phoenix Hills subdivision. Luman Road will be curved behind the Help-You-Sell building to intersect with Fern Valley Road at a new entrance to the Pear Tree Factory Outlet Stores. This new entrance would be shared by the users of the Holiday RV Park, owned by Phoenix Mayor Larry Parducci. Project planners emphasize that the exact location of these relocated streets has yet to be finalized and the purpose of the informal open house is to receive comments from the public and property owners around the affected areas. At the same time, Timms said there is not much room to work with between the bridge over Bear Creek and the Help-You-Sell building. The project is the first phase of planned improvements to the Fern Valley Road corridor � beginning at Highway 99 in the west and ending at the new Phoenix Hills subdivision in the east. But even before Phase I begins, there�s a city project scheduled for 2001 to construct a new South Phoenix Road and a new east-west road linking South Phoenix Road with Pear Tree Lane. Long-term plans (Phase II) call for the replacement of the I-5 overpass and the bridge over Bear Creek in order to turn Fern Valley Road into a four-lane road with a median strip. Costs for the widening of Fern Valley Road and replacement of the two bridges are estimated at $8.5 million. So far, the city has yet to find the funds to complete South Phoenix Road after setting aside plans to form a local improvement district and charge individual property owners for the project earlier this year. The city has applied for a state grant to fund $800,000 of the $2.3 million project. "We haven't ruled out the possibility for a local improvement district," said City Planner Denis Murray. "But (the grant) would reduce the amount." The city is organizing meetings with individual property owners to discuss the situation. 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