Document text
Project will ease interchange crush Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Work has begun on extension of South Phoenix Road near Petro truck stop at the Interstate 5 interchange with Fern Valley Road in Phoenix. The road is part of a $2.5 million project to ease congestion. Construction includes building streets to take some traffic farther from Interstate 5 ramps at Fern Valley Road in Phoenix By MEG LANDERS PHOENIX - After several years in the making, construction has begun on a $2.5 million project to ease congestion on Fern Valley Road at the Interstate 5 interchange. The project will include building two new streets accessing eastside businesses and moving the North Phoenix and Luman intersections farther from the freeway ramps. "It's going to help that whole east side," says Mayor Larry Parducci. "Right now, we have a mess over there." City and Oregon Department of Transportation officials began planning improvements to the interchange after both off-ramps were identified by ODOT as "failing" - meaning cars had to wait so long to turn left onto Fern Valley Road that traffic backed up onto the freeway during peak commute times. Increasing congestion in the area is the proximity of three roads to the off-ramps: Luman Road (which provides access to Bear Lake Mobile Estates), North Phoenix Road and Pear Tree Lane. The project includes closing off Pear Tree Lane at Fern Valley and building a new South Phoenix Road connecting the two; building the new Furry Road, which will run behind the Petro truck stop from South Phoenix Road to Pear Tree Lane; and realigning the Luman and North Phoenix Road intersections so they enter Fern Valley farther from the freeway ramps. Planning Director Denis Murray says the changes will help both local drivers and the many truckers who frequent the Petro truck stop for gas, meals and rest. "We think it's going to be much safer," he says. Parducci says he's concerned about the impact on business at the Pear Tree Motel and RV Park and the Iron Skillet restaurant by changing access to Pear Tree Lane. Those wanting to get to those businesses will have to travel down and around behind them, he says. But "ODOT says it's a real traffic safety problem in leaving Pear Tree Lane open," he says. Ron Wigley of Medford, who eats at the Iron Skillet twice a week, says that if the new roads create any inconvenience, he might go elsewhere for his meals. "That's one reason I come here, because it's quick," says the Boise Cascade employee who's been eating there for nearly 30 years. While he's holding off judgment about the new route, he said he hopes it doesn't make a speedy meal difficult. "Right now, it's a slight jump off the freeway," he says. With Furry Road and half of South Phoenix Road scheduled to be completed by as early as summer 2002, area businesses will soon know the project's impact. "It'll be different and it'll take people awhile to get used to it," says Murray, "but in the long run, it'll be safer." The city and ODOT are working on plans for Phase II of the interchange improvement project, expected to cost about $22 million. Improvements could include rebuilding the I-5 interchange, rebuilding the Fern Valley Road bridge over Bear Creek, realigning the Highway 99 and Fern Valley Road interchange, and widening Fern Valley Road to five lanes. Meg Landers is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.