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Phoenix man died in motorcycle crash at The Expo ... 2016 ELECTION Costly repairs may force Jacksonville Highway Water District to dissolve Comment By Tony Boom for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Tony Boom for the Mail Tribune Posted May. 11, 2016 at 3:55 PM Updated May 11, 2016 at 5:18 PM By Tony Boom for the Mail Tribune Posted May. 11, 2016 at 3:55 PM Updated May 11, 2016 at 5:18 PM » Social News Faced with an estimated $488,000 in waterline replacement costs, voters in the Jacksonville Highway Water District will consider dissolving the district and transferring service responsibility to the Medford Water Commission in Tuesday’s election. Upcoming improvements to Lozier Lane by the Oregon Department of Transportation, Jackson County and the city of Medford obligate the district to relocate waterlines currently in the roadway. But the district has no funds to cover the replacement of lines originally installed in 1938 and 1959. “The sticker price is pretty high,” said Caroline Walker, president of the district’s five-member board. “We would have to take out a loan or get a bond, which would result in a surcharge to our people.” Even if the district is dissolved, customers would still face a surcharge for the replacement from the Medford Water Commission. But future improvements to lines within the former district territory would then become a MWC responsibility rather than remaining with the district patrons. MWC hasn’t taken any action on what to do if the district dissolves, said commission spokesperson Sara Bristol. In the past, however, the commission has typically accepted former water district customers into “outside” customer status, she said. “Before we could consider them as an outside customer, they need to dissolve the water district,” said Bristol. About 340 customers are served by the district in a patchwork of boundaries both north and south of West Main Street, which used to be called Jacksonville Highway. “It has changed so much as the area gets taken in by the city,” said Walker. The district has no outstanding indebtedness and owns no property. One area along Clover and Lozier lanes runs from Main to Stewart Avenue. The largest portion goes from Oak Grove Road to near Arnold Lane on both sides of West Main. There are small areas west of Ross Lane north of Main. Lozier Lane will require about 4,000 feet of water main replacement between West Main and Stewart Avenue during the road update, said Bristol. MWC owns 1,500 feet of line and shares another 900 feet with the water district, which has about 1,500 feet of its own line mostly from Prune Street to Stewart. Originally the district thought it could retain some of the existing line on Lozier, said Walker. But further studies determined the entire line needed to be replaced. Partial replacement and relocations would cause further stress on existing lines and hasten the need to replace the line. “They like to have any infrastructure that is under the road updated so they don’t have to tear the road apart later,” said Bristol. Lozier Lane’s rebuild will be a $7.5 million project that will upgrade the street in a fashion similar to Ross Lane, just across Main from Lozier. The new road will include two vehicle travel lanes, a center turn lane, bike lanes, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and storm drains to replace open ditches. “It’s obviously a very rural road in an urban setting,” said ODOT spokesman Gary Leaming. “There have been accidents where pedestrians have been stuck by vehicles. It’s in serious need of update.” Road design work is underway. Bids for the project will be sought in November, and Leaming anticipates work will begin in 2017. Tony Boom is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By Tony Boom for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Tony Boom for the Mail Tribune Posted May. 11, 2016 at 3:55 PM Updated May 11, 2016 at 5:18 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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