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RVTD gets $1.2 million in grants for new station The Rogue Valley Transportation District missed the big money last week, but the district got a nice consolation prize on Tuesday. RVTD will get $1.2 million in state grants to build a transfer station in south Medford and to add park-and-ride areas in Central Point, Talent and Ashland. The Rogue Valley Area Commission on Transportation met Tuesday morning to determine the capital-improvement needs of RVTD. The money still needs to be stamped for approval in Salem in December, but Oregon Department of Transportation officials said it's probably a "sure-fire" thing. The grants will pay for improvements from 2000 to 2003. The big-ticket item is the transfer station near the ice skating rink at the South Gateway Center. The station will have bicycle lockers, parking spaces and an attendant. It will act as a central location for bicyclists, car and van pools and bus riders from southern Jackson County, said Sherrin Coleman, RVTD manager. It will be the second transfer station in Medford -- the first is on Front Street between Eighth and 10th streets. The news of the money comes as welcome relief to the district. Last week, voters rejected a five-year, $1.25-million-per-year operating levy. That's the seventh time in a row that voters have rejected district funding requests. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA