Document text
49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, May 9, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 9, 2005 Owners to relinquish land for street project By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Headaches at a troublesome east Medford intersection will ease by the end of the summer with a major improvement project about to clear its last hurdle. A project to rebuild the intersection of Crater Lake Avenue and East McAndrews Road is moving forward even though the city and one group of property owners haven’t agreed on a price for a tiny strip of land — the last parcel needed to break ground. The owners of McAndrews Plaza, a group of businesses just east of the intersection on McAndrews Road, agreed recently to give the city possession of the land. "We’re still dickering on the price," said Larry Beskow, city engineer. Work is scheduled to begin around July 1 for the new concrete intersection, estimated to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million. Both streets will be widened to create double left-turn lanes on northbound Crater Lake Avenue and eastbound McAndrews Road. Advertisement Medford’s first video traffic-detection system will be part of the project’s design. Instead of metal detectors cut into the pavement that sense when cars are idling in certain lanes, video cameras will detect traffic as it approaches the intersection. The signals will continually adjust to respond to traffic. The city has reached price agreements for right-of-way purchases on all other properties needed for the project, the largest portion being 7,400 square feet from Providence Medford Medical Center. To date the city has spent $233,600 on right-of-way purchases, with $24,000 still to be paid to Key Bank, as well as whatever the McAndrews Plaza property costs, said Beskow. The City Council voted in December to condemn the strip of land if the owners wouldn’t agree to sell. The piece of property is about 120 feet long and tapers from 9½ feet wide down to zero. Beskow said the city is updating an outdated appraisal that valued the land at $15,850. The city will put the project out to bid in the next week or so, said Beskow. He said most of the road work will be done at night to avoid snarling traffic, and the goal is to have it completed by the time school opens in the fall. And the city’s public works department is trying to have the intersection complete before another large project begins nearby. "It should be pretty well along before they take out McAndrews bridge" over Bear Creek, said Beskow. That project, which will allow traffic to pass with some restrictions, involves replacing the cracked bridge with a wider structure. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Paris Hilton Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s