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Gas-tax flop would slow road work From staff and wire reports Completion of three major Medford-area highway projects could be slowed or halted by the apparent demise of the state gas-tax increase. The primary backers of Ballot Measure 82 said Wednesday that rising gas prices had doomed the nickel-a-gallon increase on the May 16 mail-in ballot. That concession of defeat leaves local transportation advocates with few options. "It's going to slow down traffic," said Pete Naumes, who headed a team of citizens and legislators who studied the Oregon Department of Transportation last year. "We're falling behind ... and are not keeping up with transportation spending." Work will begin on two of those 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. And 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. 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. As was money for a major overhaul at the south Medford interchange. "The projects on that list will stay where they are now -- waiting for funding," said Frank Stevens, an ODOT manager in Medford. "We've got solutions (proposed) for all three of those projects," he said. "We just won't be able to complete the projects in the near future." Naumes worried that people will see work being done and assume that additional highway money is not needed. "People will see a lot of activity because some of these things have taken a long time already," Naumes said. "In fact people will think `So what we didn't get the tax -- we still get all these projects.' But you have to keep the pump primed." ODOT officials still hold out hope that financing for the south interchange project can be worked out. An offer from the city, the Medford Urban Renewal Agency and local developers to split the $30 million cost makes that project an ODOT priority. "The south interchange is unique," said Grace Crunican, ODOT director. "You've come to the table with a 50 percent match and that will compete well because you've put money with your request." A team of ODOT engineers has recommended turning Barnett Road into a local-traffic-only overpass and constructing a new I-5 interchange about a half mile south. But that proposal is still in the early stages. And state and city officials are still negotiating over financing, Stevens said. A chief opponent of the gas tax said the campaign against the measure would continue. "We expect that Measure 82 will be one of the worst defeats of any tax bill in the history of Oregon," said Roger Graybeal, president of the Oregon-Idaho auto club. "But we need to keep getting the message out about how unfair Measure 82 is." Graybeal said the auto club would participate in legislative discussions next year about how to raise more money for road programs. But a key lawmaker, Sen. Marylin Shannon, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said she doubts that lawmakers will want to revisit the gas tax issue if Measure 82 goes down to lopsided defeat. "I will not be part of that discussion. I'm not interested in that. The people will have spoken," the Brooks Republican said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA