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40 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 20, 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 January 8, 2004 Wal-Mart tries to ease traffic fears A company analysis proposes repositioning the planned Central Point Supercenter and keeping the existing store on Highway 62 open By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Contradicting previous announcements, Wal-Mart has indicated it might not close its Highway 62 store if it builds a new Supercenter in Central Point. As part of a new design plan that reorients the East Pine Street store, Wal-Mart prepared an analysis that attempts to counter concerns that traffic from the Supercenter would clog streets. The Oregon Department of Transportation has determined that if the Supercenter is built in Central Point, the off-ramp at East Pine Street would overload on opening day and traffic on Hamrick Road would back up more than a quarter-mile. However, a traffic analysis prepared for Wal-Mart by Kittleson & Associates Inc. of Portland says there would be fewer traffic problems in Central Point if the Highway 62 store remains open. The first page of the Kittleson report says, "According to Wal-Mart representatives, there are no plans to close the Highway 62 store." Advertisement However, the analysis also says that if the store were to close in the future, another Supercenter proposed near the new south Medford interchange would take some of the traffic, mitigating the impact to streets around the Central Point store. Tom Humphrey, Central Point community development director, said that in discussion with Wal-Mart representatives about the Highway 62 store, "They told me they’re going to close it." A Wal-Mart representative also told the Mail Tribune on many occasions that the company plans to shut down the Highway 62 store when the new Central Point center is opened. "It is our intention to essentially relocate that store to the new Central Point location in order to better serve our customers," said Amy Hill, Wal-Mart spokeswoman, in July 2003. On Wednesday, Hill said she was not aware of details of the Kittleson report and was unable to respond to questions about it. Wal-Mart’s new plans would place the back of the store facing Hamrick, with the parking lot extending toward Bear Creek. Under the old plan, the store would have its back to Bear Creek, with the parking lot stretching toward Hamrick. Humphrey said he would have preferred a design that faced the store toward East Pine Street. This would have been more in line with an original plan to build a smaller, mixed-use shopping center that would have resulted in fewer traffic problems than the proposed Supercenter. Whatever the configuration of the store, the impacts to local traffic could be overwhelming, prompting the city to commission another traffic study leading to a public hearing on the issue in the middle of March. "We want to get some sense of the cumulative effects of traffic," said Humphrey. "We want to see how it affects the interchange." As part of the study, the city will develop a preliminary design for a new interchange, based largely on the traffic expected from the new Supercenter combined with other planned development. If a new interchange is built, Humphrey said it could affect some properties in the area. "We would have to determine what changes we would have to make — what do we have to buy, demolish or rebuild." Humphrey said the city might also consider additional development charges on new projects to help offset some of the costs of a new interchange. Becca Croft, spokeswoman for a neighborhood group seeking to block the Central Point Wal-Mart, dismissed the company’s recent announcement that it might not close the Highway 62 store. "They’ve said they’re going to close it publicly," she said. She also rejected the new design proposed by Wal-Mart. "I don’t think it’s any better and in a lot of ways, it’s worse," said Croft. "They’re putting its backside toward our street." Even with the new design and the possibility of some improvements in traffic flow within the Wal-Mart parking lot, Croft said, "The new orientation will not change the problems that will happen on the outside." She said Hamrick Road already backs up to the Central Point cemetery, almost a half-mile away. The new Wal-Mart would make it difficult for residents on the east side to travel to downtown Central Point, she predicted. Croft thinks the city should reject the Wal-Mart plans, which she says conflict with existing zoning, and return to the idea of building a mixed-use shopping center that would better serve the needs of local citizens. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Motel proposed near store site Central Point’s planning commission this week approved plans for a new Super 8 Motel at the corner of Biddle and Hamrick roads, cater-corner to the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. The three-story, 37,419-square-foot structure will have 76 rooms, a swimming pool and a water feature in the front. Super 8 plans to hire 30 employees at the motel, which is being built on two acres and will have 91 parking spaces. 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 Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s