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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 13, 2006 Work on new Seven Oaks interchange backs up I-5 traffic By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Traffic crawled along Interstate 5 Tuesday as work began on rebuilding the Seven Oaks interchange north of Central Point. The two-lane bridge on Blackwell Road that spans Interstate 5 and a pair of interstate bridges over railroad tracks to the north will be replaced in the $24 million project. Traffic backed up to north of Gold Hill Wednesday as crews closed one southbound lane. Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson Gary Leaming said ODOT officials are working with the project contractor, Ross Brothers & Co. of Salem, to minimize impacts to traffic. "We’re going back to the contractor and trying to determine whether they really need to take that lane out in the morning and for the most part during the day," Leaming said. "We want to get it back to four lanes and do some work at night. We’re trying to do these projects so that they have a minimal amount of impact on traffic." Advertisement ODOT project leader Tim Fletcher said in a press release that the bridge over I-5 is "structurally deficient due to cracking." In addition, Fletcher said, "ODOT is taking this opportunity to widen the structure to accommodate three lanes on I-5 as well as improve the alignment for safety." The southbound offramp will be lengthened and modified to allow traffic to go under the overpass and loop back toward Rogue Valley Highway 99. To replace the two I-5 bridges over the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad, a third bridge will be constructed to accommodate traffic as the first bridge is replaced. The second of the old bridges will be demolished when the project is finished in 2008. More than 37,000 vehicles access the immediate area per day, according to 2004 statistics, Leaming said. The interchange serves as a popular route for truckers bypassing the north Medford interchange to access Highway 62. The biggest flaw of the decades-old intersection, Leaming noted, is the small amount of distance between major turnoffs. "When you make a left-hand turn to get on Blackwell and go over the overpass, you’ve got just a short amount of capacity in that connector between southbound 99 to northbound Blackwell," Leaming said. "So you get two cars in that little strip, or one truck, and you’ve got traffic stacking up on the ramp. This new configuration is going to make it easier for freight movement over that bridge � and allow for additional capacity for storage." Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Email Security Advertisement s Advertisement