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Drivers at Crater Lake Avenue and McAndrews face a few more bumps Drivers may have to tolerate the bumps at McAndrews Road and Crater Lake Avenue a little longer now that the city is considering using concrete instead of asphalt to rebuild the busy intersection. A Washington engineering firm will redesign the intersection with stronger materials to lengthen the intersection's life and better support the weight of idling vehicles at the traffic signals. The redesign may also include double turn lanes to meet the growing traffic demands. "Intersections get hit the hardest with stopping and starting and that puts pressure on the pavement," said Medford Public Works Director Cory Crebbin. City engineers want to use concrete, but the verdict is still out for Crebbin, partly because he's not satisfied with Medford's concrete crossings at the corners of Stewart Avenue and Highway 99, North Phoenix and Barnett roads and Brookdale Avenue and McAndrews Road. "I see cracks - signs of stress that shouldn't be there," said Crebbin, who toured the concrete intersections with a representative from the American Concrete Institute in Portland. The cracks could be a result of poor design, construction, cement preparation or curing time, Crebbin said. Concrete costs considerably more than asphalt, which would increase the McAndrews Road/Crater Lake Avenue project from about $700,000 to up to $1.6 million, Crebbin said. The higher cost could result from a wider intersection if the city takes land from a hospital, bank, gas station and convenience store on the corners. The Medford City Council on Thursday approved spending $24,000 in state gas tax funds for the redesign. The City Council approved two earlier contracts with The Shea Group for a total of $67,885. The McAndrews/Crater Lake intersection is one of the city's 17 priority projects on a list created in 1996. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.