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Defeat of gas tax boost will throw Medford projects up in air; Measure 80 another wild card By DANI DODGE The fate of three major Medford-area highway projects will be complicated by the demise of the state gas-tax measure on the May 16 ballot. And if a companion measure is approved that allows state, cities and counties to use gas tax money for police, things could get even worse, one lobbyist predicts. The primary backers of Ballot Measure 82 say rising gas prices have doomed the nickel-a-gallon increase in this vote-by-mail election. John Watt, a lobbyist and former state representative, said if the related Measure 80 passes, it could siphon off money from the already inadequate fund for road repair and maintenance. Measure 80 changes the state constitution to allow use of gas tax monies for police purposes. "If it does pass, big, big problems, Chief," said Watt, who lobbies for Jackson County and a coalition of businesses with interest in transportation. Watt said although there's no concrete plan yet, gas tax supporters like himself plan to approach legislators about the transportation needs in Southern Oregon. They want the Legislature to consider some new "revenue enhancement." In other words, another gas tax. Watt said he will trying to show legislators how the Department of Transportation could save money -- by replicating the way Jackson County and the Oregon Department of Transportation have combined some services here. "My message will be we have needs in Southern Oregon and just because people didn't increase the tax doesn't make those needs go away," Watt said. "There needs to be an upgraded maintenance and preservation program. ... We have to be able to go to the policy-makers and say if you aren't willing to increase the gas tax you have to find money somewhere else." As the Legislature wrangles with what to do, work will begin on two of Jackson County's major highway projects, although financing for later phases is in doubt. A $15.2 million project to realign and extend Highway 238 from near the Rogue Valley Mall to North Ross Lane will begin this spring. The first phase of a project at the north Medford interchange has $22 million dedicated -- mostly federal, with some state contribution. That project is still in the planning and design stages and won't begin before 2003. Money for a major overhaul at the south Medford interchange was tied to passage of the gas tax. Engineers are considering an option that would move the interchange a half-mile south and make Barnett Road an overpass with no freeway access. But money for Phase 2 of the Highway 238 project from North Ross Lane to Jacksonville Highway, and money for improvements on Highway 62 east from the North Medford interchange was to come from the gas tax. Despite the apparent demise of the gas tax, local and state officials hope to find financing for the South Medford interchange project, since the city, the Medford Urban Renewal Agency and local developers have offered to split the $30 million cost with the state. Even without the gas tax, such an offer makes the south interchange project an ODOT priority, state officials say. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA