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LTM wins bid for Foothill extension By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Relief is in sight for drivers frustrated by long waits to make a left turn from Foothill Road onto Hillcrest Road. The Medford City Council, at its noon meeting today, is expected to accept a $1.61 million bid to LTM Inc. for a realignment that will ease congestion at the east Medford intersection. Beginning in February, LTM will build about 4,000 feet of new road winding around the 10th hole of the Rogue Valley Country Club and connecting North Phoenix Road to Hillcrest at Foothill Road, where a traffic light will be installed. Completion is expected in 2003. More road work under way Another big road project in Medford is the half-mile extension of Garfield Street from Holly Street to Highway 99. Burl Brim Excavation is ready to pour the first layer of asphalt, said Mike Ussary, spokesman for the Ashland company. Curb gutters, landscape, sidewalks and concrete foundations for signals and street lights are in, Ussary said. The work will be finished in April. The East McAndrews Road extension from Brookdale Avenue to Foothill Road, the Garfield Street extension and the North Phoenix Road realignment have been the city's top-priority road projects. The city's 17-item Project List also includes fixing the intersection at Crater Lake Avenue and McAndrews, building sidewalks on Poplar Drive and improving South Peach Street. To read the list, go to the city's Web site, www.ci.medford.or.us "This will alleviate a lot of congestion and waiting time at that intersection during the busy hours," said Dave Ross, chief estimator for LTM, the low bidder on the job. The North Phoenix Road extension will have four lanes, tree islands, a center turn lane and sidewalks, said Thomas Smith, a Medford engineering technician. Where the road winds around the golf course, the sidewalks will end up about 20 feet from the back side of the 10th hole, said Hugh Graham, general manager of the country club. But there will be no danger of flying golf balls to windshields or walkers because golfers drive down the fairway at that point, he said. LTM will build a 10-foot high, 100-foot-long earthen wall to help screen the road from the golf course. Rogue Valley Country Club will plant landscaping and build a fence on top of the earthen wall, Graham said. "We'll be working with the developer and the city throughout the process," Graham said. The old portion of North Phoenix Road will remain open for drivers who want to access Hillcrest and reach the Eagle Trace neighborhoods on the slopes of Roxy Ann Peak. However, drivers coming down the mountain will not be able to turn left onto the old portion of North Phoenix Road because of a tree island barricade that will be in the road, Smith said. Drivers will have to use the new Foothill intersection to make a left turn onto North Phoenix Road. The traffic light will be programmed to accommodate morning and evening rush-hour traffic, according to Ralph Browning, Medford traffic engineer. More than 10,000 cars travel this stretch of Hillcrest daily, creating a lengthy wait for motorists at the Foothill stop sign during peak periods. Part of LTM's job will be to pull about a mile's worth of cable beneath the ground to connect the new traffic signal at Foothill to the light at Black Oak. LTM will subcontract the job to Valley Electric. Between 20 and 30 LTM employees and subcontractors will be involved in the North Phoenix Road project, Ross said. LTM must pay prevailing union wages to satisfy Bureau of Labor and Industry rules. LTM submitted a low bid of $1,617,299.25. Burl Brim Excavation submitted a bid of $1.84 million, while Pacific Pipeline and Robco Inc. both bid $2 million. The city spent $1 million buying six acres from five property owners for the North Phoenix extension. The country club will not lose any property in the project. Other LTM projects have included the runway extensions and taxiway rehabilitation at the Medford airport, the new, five-lane stretch of Highway 62 near Eagle Point and eight miles of new pavement on Interstate 5 near Rogue River. LTM also was a subcontractor on the new highway junction near the Rogue Valley Mall. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.