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Interchange reality sets in Photo by Drew Fleming An open house detailing three alternatives for overhauling the south Medford freeway interchange drew citizens like Tina and Lloyd Abrams Saturday. Here, Tina Abrams points out the location of her home near the Quail Point golf pro shop on a wall map of the interchange area. Tour shows what would have to go for overhaul By JESSICA SMITH A retirement home, a ball field and a commercial parking lot -- these are three examples of the kind of sacrifices Medford may have to make to relieve traffic congestion at Barnett Road. The reality of the proposed overhaul of the south Medford Interstate 5 interchange at Barnett Road became clear Saturday during tours of the three suggested project areas. The Oregon Department of Transportation and local members of citizen groups studying the interchange offered tours and details on the alternatives and trade-offs at an open house. Community members who climbed aboard a Rogue Valley Transportation District bus to get a closer look at the interchange alternatives had doubts about what they saw. "You want to say, isn't there another option, one the planners have overlooked?" said Barbara Davidson, who lives on Roberts Road. Project leaders say they've culled the three best solutions from more than a dozen that were originally proposed. Turn Barnett Road into a one-way street for eastbound traffic and couple it with a new one-way street for westbound traffic. Build a new interchange at suggested connections between Garfield Street and Ellendale Avenue. Build a new interchange at Garfield and Highland Drive. Both options for a new interchange would eliminate freeway access at congested Barnett Road. But Davidson and others questioned the practicality of the three options that remain. "None of these look like a good alternative to what exists," said Ruth Staten, who lives at Hobert Street and Ellendale. That's where the new freeway off-ramp would be built under the Garfield-Ellendale option. A solution that uses Garfield and Ellendale would have other impacts as well -- including the likely displacement of the new Quail Ridge retirement home just south of Barnett. People who live in the area also raised concerns about safety for the children and seniors who live there. Questions about the impact on businesses that depend on their proximity to the south I-5 interchange also emerged when the tour stopped at Boyd Street, which planners suggest be extended east to Alba Drive. Under this option, westbound traffic would travel on an extended Boyd Street while eastbound drivers would continue to use Barnett. But extending Boyd Street -- now just a small lane between the Astro Gas Station and Wendy's Restaurant at the lip of Riverside and Central avenues -- would mean cutting through the parking lot that sits in front of the old Kmart store. And a Babe Ruth ball field off Belknap Road likely would have to go to make room for the realignment of Center Drive if either the Garfield-Ellendale or the Garfield-Highland option moves ahead. "Clearly, all three options will have significant impacts" on the surrounding neighborhoods, said Dave Mayfield, project manager URS Corp., a consulting firm working for ODOT. Project leaders said many of the questions raised Saturday reinforced the concerns they've heard from the community in the past year. Mayfield said all the options will be evaluated based on their impacts to residential property values, businesses, traffic flow, air quality and other environmental concerns. Although funding for the project is uncertain -- a proposed state gas-tax increase that would pay for the overhaul is expected to fail in this month's election -- project leaders are moving ahead with a draft environmental impact statement that discusses the effects of the interchange options is due late this fall. Because local developers and the city are offering to share the cost of the interchange project, however, finding state money to get it done promptly is 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