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N. Phoenix Road extension planned Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Traffic stacks up on Foothill Road at its intersection with Hillcrest Road in Medford just after 5 p.m. Tuesday. City engineers say drivers are frustrated by waits of as long as 20 minutes to turn left onto Hillcrest from Foothill. The city is considering several ways to relieve the problem, including installing stop signs on Hillcrest. By JESSICA SMITH It's rush hour, and Daryll Bailey is waiting patiently on Foothill Road. He wants to turn left onto Hillcrest Road, and he's not alone. By 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, as many as 30 cars lined up to make the left turn from Foothill to Hillcrest. "This is terrible," Bailey said as he waited behind the stop sign on Foothill. "It's the same thing every day." Eighth in line with at least 15 cars stacked behind his pickup, Bailey said he's regularly forced to wait several minutes to make the turn onto Hillcrest. No one rushes through this intersection during the evening commute, he said. "Seven minutes doesn't seem like a long time," he added, "but it is when you're just sitting here." According to Cory Crebbin, public works director, motorists can wait up to 20 minutes to turn east onto Hillcrest, already a busy street in the evenings. "It's definitely an unacceptable delay," he said. The city has explored ways to ease congestion at the Foothill-Hillcrest intersection, but it's unclear when such plans might be implemented. Congestion at the Foothill-Hillcrest intersection has intensified in recent months, since the city opened a portion of the McAndrews Road extension. The McAndrews extension connects to Foothill, giving motorists quicker access to one of the city's biggest roads in the east. "The problem is it's not real convenient to get onto Hillcrest," Crebbin said. Motorists headed south on Foothill must turn right or left at Hillcrest. Most of the traffic heads east, toward the subdivisions on Roxy Ann Peak or North Phoenix Road. City engineers say a planned $2.3 million, 2,600-foot extension of North Phoenix Road that connects to Foothill at Hillcrest will ease congestion at the intersection. Along with the road construction, engineers plan to install a four-way traffic signal to manage cars at the new interchange. It's unclear, however, when construction will begin. Bob Deuel, city engineer, said negotiations for needed rights of way are ongoing. Once the city settles those issues, engineers will have a better idea of the construction timeline. In the meantime, the city is exploring several short-term fixes to congestion at Foothill and Hillcrest, including the installation of stop signs on Hillcrest. "I'm not particularly enamored of that solution," Crebbin said. City engineers will study traffic patterns and the effects of a three-way stop and other traffic-controlling measures before they implement any changes, Crebbin added. 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.