Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend June 28, 2005 Businesses balk at Hwy. 99 plans Medford sports park access may require a raised median on 99 — something businesses say will harm their access By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Business owners on South Pacific Highway in Medford say the prospect of a median barrier on the highway bodes ill for them. "It’s going to hurt us and John Deere because we have trucks coming in," said Dennis Trost, one of the owners of Southern Oregon Nursery in Medford. The Medford Parks and Recreation Department tentatively plans to build an access road to its new sports park across the highway from Southern Oregon Nursery, John Deere and Tucker Sno-Cat Corp. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, maintaining safety may require a raised median in the middle of the highway across from the park entrance, which would mean northbound customers and delivery trucks couldn’t make a left turn into the businesses’ parking lots. John Vial, district manager with the Oregon Department of Transportation, said ODOT, the parks department and nearby businesses are still in negotiation. Advertisement "We have not reached resolution," he said. Options being discussed include a raised median, combining accesses for multiple businesses and moving the park’s entrance farther south. Southbound drivers would have a center turn lane to get into the park. Vial said the state is increasing efforts to limit driveways onto the highway — also known as Highway 99 — as the number of cars and trucks grows. "As volumes increase, the need to look at accesses carefully increases as well," he said. Vial said combining business accesses and raising medians to eliminate left-turns into driveways are some of the changes being made around the state. He said the goal isn’t to hurt businesses but to keep streets safe. "The safest road that we have is I-5," he said, quickly adding that the point is not to turn all streets into interstate highways but to balance safety and access. Trost said he hates to see "the new kid on the block" negatively impact established businesses. "It’s been a family-run business since 1945," said Trost, adding that South Pacific Highway hasn’t always been a five-lane highway. "We were out here where it was one lane each way," he said. Trost said he’d prefer that the entry road move a couple hundred yards to the south. Merlin McDaniel, design and construction manager for the sports park, said until the plan is decided and the design is complete, he doesn’t know the cost of the road project. He said it will be funded by $342,000 remaining from the bond used to purchase the 132 acres of park land, and he hopes a car rental tax recently adopted by the city would provide additional funds. "We’d like to get the design done so we can start construction this fall," said McDaniel. Meanwhile, plans are moving forward on the four softball fields, a baseball field and the parking lot. "We might start construction spring ’06 so it would be spring ’07 that those would be ready to go," said McDaniel. Additionally, the Harry & David Baseball Stadium, being built by Batzer Inc., is under construction, despite facing rapidly rising costs. "To get this stadium built we’re going to have to rely on contributions," said McDaniel. He said the cost could reach $5 million. The city has $2.3 million from Jackson County from the sale of the Miles Field property to Wal-Mart. Jackson County recently agreed to give an additional $900,000. The first game of 2006 is scheduled for mid-March, although that would probably not be in a finished stadium, McDaniel said. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . New name for sports park The Medford Parks and Recreation Department will announce a new name and a fund-raising foundation for the sports park today. The Medford Sports and Community Park and the launching of the Parks and Recreation Foundation will be announced at 6 p.m. today at the Rotary Bridge in the sports park on South Pacific Highway. James Consulting of Medford has been working with the city to create an organization to handle donations to fund park amenities. For more information, call Lisa James of James Consulting Inc., 734-5515. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement