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State: $200,000 more for I-5 fix But Medford mayor says city has kicked in enough for interchange By Jessica Smith Another year, another $200,000 � that�s what state transportation officials say they need to come up with a solution to Medford�s traffic troubles at the south Interstate 5 interchange. Frank Stevens, a local ODOT manager, said traffic studies have delayed a planned environmental impact statement that will examine the effects of alternatives identified for the planned overhaul at the south interchange. Transportation officials have narrowed their search for a solution to traffic congestion at the south Medford interchange on Barnett Road. There are two options. Both call for moving the interchange further south and eliminating freeway access at Barnett. But ODOT�s request for an additional $200,000 � to pay consultant expenses associated with the delay � met some resistance at City Hall. "We�ve paid our fair share," Mayor Lindsay Berryman said. The city and the urban renewal agency already committed $1.5 million to fund the EIS process, Berryman and other officials say. "I�m not feeling like I want to ante up another ($200,000) to the state to get this done," the mayor added. "It�s their responsibility. They need to step up to the line, take the responsibility and get the job done." Increasing the city�s contribution to the south interchange study would take approval from the Medford City Council. It�s unclear when the matter will come before the council. It was just last week that the council learned that delayed traffic studies had put the project behind schedule. They�re expected to take up ODOT�s request at a later meeting. According to Stevens, who is heading up efforts to fix the south interchange, the city will get credit for the added expense. Medford has committed a $15 million "local match" to fund the interchange overhaul, provided the state can come up with the other $15 million needed to pay for the project. The money the city spends now on the EIS process will be subtracted from its total funding commitment, explained Cory Crebbin, Medford public works director. Meanwhile, the draft EIS, originally scheduled for release this fall, won�t be ready until February or March 2001. Stevens said ODOT spent $150,000 and several months to update a computerized traffic modeling program to examine road projects throughout the Rogue Valley. Although the previous model worked well for local projects, Stevens said the upgraded version offers more sophisticated analysis of traffic patterns. Upgrades to the traffic model, however, have delayed traffic studies needed for technical reports that will provide the basis for the larger EIS process, which would look at the impact of the project on such things as the environment and local businesses. The delayed studies mean that ODOT must put off its release of a draft EIS until next February or March, Stevens said. ODOT had planned to be done well before then and have a preferred alternative selected for reworking the interchange early next year. Stevens said a preferred alternative likely won�t be selected now until late 2001. That�s faster than most state projects, which take five to seven years to wind their way through the EIS process, he said. "It�s really pulling together at a fairly reasonable time frame for the kind of project it is," Stevens added. ODOT began planning the interchange overhaul less than two years ago, he said. Problems at the interchange, considered one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the Rogue Valley, have stalled development in the south end of town and made relieving congestion there a local priority. Traffic planners have two options for the interchange � a third alternative was officially dropped this week, following an earlier recommendation � both variations on a new freeway interchange at Garfield Street about a half mile south of Barnett Road. Both options would make Barnett Road an overpass open to local traffic only. One option would connect the new Garfield Street interchange to Ellendale Avenue for access to southeast Medford; the other would connect the new interchange to Highland Avenue. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.