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State earmarks funds for repairing roads Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Traffic waits on Barnett Road at Highland Drive with the Interstate 5 interchange in the background. State transportation officials will spend millions to improve traffic flow at the interchange by 2005. A committee has recommended Highland as the new link to I-5, replacing the bottleneck at Barnett Road. Southern Oregon will finally get major upgrades Option protects housing, creek Hoping to protect low-income housing and Bear Creek, a panel of state and local officials has selected Highland Drive as the preferred alternative for the relocation of the south Medford freeway interchange. At a meeting March 7, the interchange Solution Team voted to recommend the Highland option over a second alternative, a new freeway connection at Ellendale Drive. Routing Interstate 5�s off-ramp traffic to Ellendale would eliminate nearby low-income and senior housing, the team found. The Ellendale option also would encroach on Bear Creek and creek riparian areas. According to project leaders, costs for overhauling the interchange are on the rise. Original estimates put the work at $30 million, but engineers have found that work needed to meet federal flood and waterway protection requirements could increase costs by $10 million. Though the Solution Team has selected its preferred alternative, the decision on where to put the new freeway interchange has yet to be made. Studies of the Highland and Ellendale options � and a "no-build" alternative � are now under way. A draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that examines each of the options will be ready for public review in May. Following public hearings on the EIS, the 17-member Solution Team is expected to make a final design decision in July or August. A final EIS on the selected alternative is scheduled for release in January. By Jessica Smith It�s taken a few years, but the state has finally collected enough money to fix up some of the region�s most troubled roadways. In a draft of Oregon�s transportation improvement plan, about $87 million is set aside for state road projects in Jackson County. From a planned overhaul of the south Medford freeway interchange at Barnett Road to a new traffic signal at Rapp Road on Highway 99, the STIP attempts to mend state roads weakened by age and increased traffic. Stuart Foster, who sits on the five-member Oregon Transportation Commission, said the county�s take in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program represents a "large chunk" of the $1 billion allocated between 2002-2005. "Yes, this is major funding," said Foster. "But it is making up for years of virtually no money for our interstate system here. ... And it takes lots to meet the needs we�ve neglected over the years." For the past several years, the state has been gathering funds to pay for the county�s biggest projects, including reconfigurations of the north and south Medford freeway interchanges. "The region�s cut is $3.5 million a year, and you can build precious little with that," said Mike Montero, the Jackson County chairman for the Rogue Valley Area Commission on Transportation. RVACT makes recommendations to the state transportation commission for funding in Jackson and Josephine counties. The Barnett Road interchange � the plan is to move it farther south � is expected to cost some $30 million. Though the city of Medford is putting up half the cost, the state�s share is nearly five times the amount of money allocated to the region each year for transportation projects. Still, local transportation officials say it�s time the state started investing in Southern Oregon. "Frankly, that�s an opinion that has been well supported around the state," Montero said. "This area has been well behind the curve." For the two-county region, the state has earmarked about $96.6 million for road improvements. Projects in Jackson County will eat up 90 percent of that figure, or about $87.3 million. Montero and others say the draft 2002-2005 STIP puts the region a good step toward meeting its transportation needs, but they caution that there�s plenty more work ahead. "The bottom line is the needs just totally outweigh the resources we have available," said Monte Grove, area manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation. According to Grove, state projects to modernize roads in Jackson and Josephine counties total more than $400 million. Without an increase in the gas tax or vehicle registration fees, it seems unlikely Oregon will ever be able to adequately address insufficiencies in the state�s system of roads, Foster said. "You can only squeeze so much blood from a turnip." $87 million worth of projects planned Oregon officials earmarked some $87 million for state road projects in Jackson County in the 2002-2005 statewide transportation improvement program (STIP). Many of the biggest projects in the STIP are budgeted for construction in 2004 and 2005. Among them: South Medford Interchange � Plans are to relocate the interchange, moving it from Barnett Road to a new connection at Ellendale Drive or Highland Drive. The STIP sets aside $21.3 million for this project in 2005. North Ashland to 12th Street in Medford � The state wants to pave Interstate 5 between Ashland and Medford in 2005. Estimated cost is $22.4 million. Phoenix to Rapp Road � Scheduled for 2004, this project includes paving a portion of Highway 99. The STIP provides $1.2 million for the work. Central Point ramp improvements � Extending the southbound Interstate 5 off-ramp at exit 33 is expected to cost $250,000. The work is scheduled for 2005. Public comments on the STIP will be accepted through the end of the month. To review the entire document, look for it at www.odot.state.or.us/STIP on the Web. Comments may be sent in writing to STIP coordinator Mike Baker at 3500 N.W. Stewart Parkway, Roseburg, OR 97470. Comments also may be e-mailed to [email protected] . Baker can be reached by phone at 541-957-3658. Once the public comment period ends, the Oregon Department of Transportation will prepare a final STIP that will be forwarded late this year to the Oregon Transportation Commission for approval. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.