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New interchange needed, business people say Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Barnett Road crosses Interstate 5 on the lower right in this photo looking northwest from the Rogue Valley Manor in south Medford. By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Development could slow to a halt if a new south Medford interchange is not built, business leaders say. "We've been waiting for this interchange improvement so we can finish the development of the center," said Bob Kaczor, president of TRF Real Estate, a partner in the South Gateway Center. The 10-year-old shopping complex is home to Fred Meyer, Harry and David Country Village and a Sprint call center that employs about 280 people in the former Ernst building, to name a few of the tenants. South Gateway has developed 400,000 square feet so far and plans to build 300,000 more after the new interchange is complete, Kaczor said. The pluses and minuses of the Highland Drive option A team of local leaders chosen to select a fix to the Barnett Road/Interstate 5 interchange traffic mess is leaning toward moving the interchange to Highland Drive. Here are some pros and cons of that choice: Pros Will reduce traffic congestion and cut down on air pollution. Vast majority of traffic headed west of Interstate 5 will avoid Barnett Road altogether. Costs significantly less than the Ellendale alternative, and has lesser impact on environment, businesses and residents. New structure would meet safety standards and traffic needs for at least 20 years. Simply improving the Barnett Road interchange would not. Removes ODOT-related restrictions on east Medford developments. Emergency service vehicles will have easy access to south Medford, and access to Rogue Valley Medical Center improves. Traffic originating in southwest Medford will have quicker access (via Garfield) to Interstate 5 and Southgate shopping center. Cons Affected residents fear traffic will increase in residential areas and erode established neighborhoods. Does not provide Medford with an additional freeway interchange. Southeast Medford traffic generated by new development will further congest Barnett Road east of Highland. One residential structure and three businesses would be displaced. Businesses at existing interchange will lose freeway travelers' business. Infringes on park land on the east and south sides of Bear Creek Park. Actual construction, which will take more than a year, will limit access to local businesses. "It's too easy to say, 'Not in my neighborhood,' " said Kokaun Foo, general manager of Hometown Buffet, situated at Barnett and Stewart. "But that's not being responsible citizens of Medford. We all choose to live in Southern Oregon because of the quality of life and growth is going to come whether we like it or not. So let's just grow responsibly." Foo supports the state's interchange project even though it will cost him. He paid a premium for property with a high visibility from the freeway and gets about 25 percent of his summer business from Interstate 5 travelers, he said. The new interchange will move freeway access three-quarters of a mile from his restaurant. "For businesses like mine, the investment we put in at the time was a premium because we knew the access was very close," Foo said. "But we have to look in the future. If cars are backing up on the I-5 because the interchange is congested, that will not help us either." What impacts businesses eventually reaches consumers, developers say. As long as there are south interchange snarl-ups, there will be a cap on new homes, including the city's Southeast Plan off of North Phoenix Road, where 10,000 people are expected to live and shop within the next few decades. "(Traffic improvements ) allow us to provide homes for people who want homes at a more reasonable price," said contractor Bret Moore, president of the 300-member Home Builders Association of Jackson County Inc. Land-use laws limit land available for homes if there is inadequate infrastructure, such as roads, he said. And that drives up prices. "Building new homes doesn't create the demand; the demand is there," Moore said. "All we are doing is providing a product that meets that demand." A broker who specializes in commercial property agreed that Medford's growth will be stunted until the city's freeway access is improved. "If the south and north Medford interchanges are not done, development in this community will come to a standstill," said Curt Burrill, broker for Burrill Real Estate LLC. "There are transportation issues throughout the valley, but the south interchange is a key point that needs to be corrected." But when the state moves forward with the south Medford interchange project, engineers should use caution in routing the road so they don't break up large tracts of prime commercial land in the South Gateway Center, he said. The center is in the Medford Urban Renewal District, which stretches to downtown. "The better the South Gateway Center is, the more tax increment money goes into the urban renewal and the more the downtown revitalization plan can reach its goal," said Kaczor, the center's manager. "What happens to us directly benefits the entire community." What happens at the Barnett interchange also impacts Rogue Valley Medical Center, which plans a $90 million expansion soon. Officials at Asante Health System, parent company of the hospital, could not be reached for comment. And which route state engineers choose for the new interchange is critical for Rogue Valley Manor, a nonprofit retirement community with 900 residents and 300 employees. The state's interchange designs would cut through the campus, which is situated across the freeway from South Gateway Center. "We're supportive of the residential community's position as well as the development community's position on this issue, but we all need to be aware of the impact on our properties," said Manor administrator Kevin McLoughlin. "You look at a community like Central Point, which has three exits, and you wonder why Medford can't have three exits. It's my hope the state is looking for long-term traffic solutions and not just moving the problem a few blocks away." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.