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Medford's road worriers Photo by Jim Craven Many residents along South Groveland Avenue in Medford fear a proposed road project that would connect their street with Ellendale Drive and make it a north-south arterial would ruin the character of their neigborhood. Far-off possibility of new arterial nearby alarms eastside residents By JIM DAVIS Laurie Dysart brought an architect into her east Medford home this spring for a long-anticipated remodeling job. But Dysart is shelving those plans for now after the Oregon Department of Transportation released maps showing possible fixes for the south Medford interchange, concepts that could have a sweeping effect on her neighborhood and others in the area. "When we built the house, we thought it was where we could live for the rest of our lives," Dysart said of her home just off South Groveland Avenue. "If they extend (Ellendale Drive to Groveland), then we will have to move." One of the possible projects calls for Ellendale Drive to be extended north from Barnett Road, connecting with Groveland and creating a new north-south arterial in east Medford. That plan and others are nothing more than lines on paper at this point, traffic engineers say, proposals that need to go through months of study and hearings before any are selected. But the mere specter of these changes is causing a ripple effect through south Medford. Many residents such as Dysart are forming groups and holding meetings for fear that their neighborhoods will be chosen for one of the projects. "The neighbors are pretty well up in arms about it because it's going through old east Medford," said Hubert Hewitt, who also lives on Groveland. ODOT wants to improve the south Medford interchange, an intersection that sees more than 34,000 car trips daily, is nearing capacity and is one of the worst bottlenecks in the city. A state solutions team -- made up of 17 community members and city, state and federal planners and engineers -- believes that improving traffic flow within the city will ease tension at the interchange. Last month, the group unveiled seven conceptual maps showing proposals that include rebuilding the intersection and running new streets east to west and north to south. ODOT project manager Frank Stevens said the proposals will be run through a computer traffic-modeling program in late September and the team will see the data by October. Stevens said the goal is to pare the plans down to two or three options by the first of next year, then hold a public hearing. The result will probably be a mix of several options, Stevens said. All of this is contingent upon funding: Any major fix of the interchange is estimated to cost at least $30 million. At least $15 million would need to come from the state. The Oregon Legislature recently approved a gas tax increase that could pay for many of the changes, but that tax may be challenged at the polls by the state chapter of the American Automobile Association. Despite the uncertain funding, Medford Mayor Lindsay Berryman has already heard some fears about the proposals. She said she was meeting with real estate agents a few weeks ago when one complained about losing a sale along one of the roads identified for potential changes. She said the agents told her it was difficult to do business when maps of the possible road changes are run on the front page of the newspaper. "My comment to them was that we used to do things behind closed doors and my preference is to have the discussion out in the open," she said. "They also recognized that they would rather have an open process than a process behind closed doors," Berryman said. "They recognized the trade-offs." Even so, she said ODOT needs to make its decisions quickly to avoid leaving people waiting and worrying. Along Groveland, neighbors have been especially vocal after learning that Ellendale could be extended to their street. They have formed a loose-knit group and, this past week, more than 15 residents -- many from the neighborhood -- attended a meeting of an advisory traffic committee. "It's the old story; nobody wants it in their back yard," Hewitt said. "I think probably they could do better than going through old east Medford with their freeway." Pat Oldenburg, who also lives on Groveland, has told several of her neighbors about the possible road extension. "Any artery as they're talking through old east Medford is going to have a devastating effect on livability," Oldenburg said. She said her group is suggesting that a beltline be built around the city and traffic signals improved on Barnett Road and at the interchange. Group members say engineers should consider current road projects in planning and what effect those will have on traffic flow. The Ellendale proposal would apparently run through a section of Siskiyou Memorial Park, part of which is undeveloped. The cemetery is for sale as part of the bankruptcy of Kern Family Services, which operated it. Stephen Carroll, a Eugene lawyer who represented Kern Family Services, said the money from the sale will be used to repay millions missing from a trust fund that customers paid into for future funeral and burial services. "It would be a shame if a road project would decrease the amount that was available to the consumers," Carroll said. Along Barneburg Road, neighbors have been fighting road projects for years and many of them belong to the Eastside Neighborhood Association. Peter Noyes, who is president of the association and who lives on Barneburg, said he has been looking at the city's road problems for 20 years. "The problem (at the interchange) isn't people trying to go north to south," Noyes said, "it's people getting on the interchange going east to west." After ODOT released its maps last month, his board met, in part to discuss the new maps, which show that Highland Drive -- which connects with Barneburg -- could be extended over Interstate 5. The result would be arterial traffic from Highland being routed up Barneburg. "We've talked about it and there are ongoing plans to try to encourage our city fathers and planners not to destroy our eastside neighborhoods," Noyes said. Board member Rosalyn Rhinehart, who lives on East Main Street, said she has been fighting road projects for 34 years. She said she doesn't think she will see the road changes ever go into effect. "At this stage of the game, I doubt that we will still be living here by the time they bring the road grader by," Rhinehart said. Norm Nelson, a Medford planning commissioner, attended a town hall meeting on the south Medford project earlier this month with Medford Councilman Bill Moore. "At this point in time, they're at such preliminary stages of the study that people need to give them (the solutions team) a chance to develop their plans and find out what their options are," he says. But Nelson acknowledges that he would probably feel differently if he lived along one of the affected roads. Dysart says the road project would ruin her neighborhood. "Right now, old people and young people walk and jog on this street," Dysart said. "If this is a major thoroughfare, the people won't be able to walk on it. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA