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Garfield extension grows near Photo by Jim Craven Fairly quiet, for now - Children from Jefferson Elementary School cross Medford's Garfield Street Thursday. A plan to extend the street to Highway 99 has neighbors concerned about possible effects on the school zone. Residents say neighborhood will suffer By CHRIS BRISTOL A little street in a sleepy southwest Medford neighborhood moved one step closer to becoming a major road Thursday -- maybe even a freeway overpass. The long-awaited extension of Garfield Street to Highway 99 could begin as soon as May, after the City Council approved a deal with the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad to make room for a right-turn lane across from Miles Field. For a price -- $444,000 -- the railroad agreed to remove two of the three tracks that parallel the highway near the Bear Creek Corp. headquarters. As part of the deal, the railroad plans to expand its switching station across town near McAndrews Road. The agreement clears the way for the five-lane extension of Garfield from South Holly Street to the highway, creating a bypass of busy Stewart Avenue from Kings Highway and, someday, Columbus Avenue. The extension is one of three major road projects -- courtesy a $9.4 million bond sale -- that are designed to ease travel around the city. The other projects involve East McAndrews and North Phoenix roads. City engineer Jerry Barnes called the Garfield deal a win-win situation for the city and the railroad. Removing track for the turn lane (to avoid dangerous traffic backups on the highway) was a far better solution than the original plan, which called for widening the east side of the highway in front of Miles Field and several commercial properties. "It's a good deal for them," he said, "and it's a good deal for us." Whether it's a good deal for people who live on Garfield is another matter. Four years ago, over the objections of neighbors, the city designated Garfield a bypass arterial. The street is not very wide, and neighbors feared the effect it would have on property values and nearby Jefferson Elementary School. But city and state officials may have even more grandiose plans for the street. Bypassing Stewart is one thing, but the real problem is the south Medford freeway interchange, where explosive commercial development has created some of the worst traffic congestion in the entire state of Oregon. City and state officials recently unveiled seven options designed to bypass the interchange. One of those options would link Garfield to east Medford -- via a freeway overpass from Highway 99 and Belknap Road. "They're looking at a bunch of different options," Barnes said. "It's certainly being talked about." A final decision could be years away. Even so, residents of the eastside Groveland neighborhood -- another bypass option -- have already banded together in protest. They even have a Web site: www.medfordcpen.org Tina Lindsey, who has lived on Garfield for four years, said the extension project would almost certainly change her neighborhood for the worse. A freeway overpass would ruin it altogether. "I can't even imagine it," she said. In a related development, the city recently learned that it won't be able to connect South Holly past the school to Garfield. The Gibson family's house is in the way, and to go around it would veer illegally into the urban growth boundary. All of which means next to nothing to Alice Gibson, whose house sits in a rural oasis at the entrance to the extension. Roads lead to development, she said, but development doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as progress. Said Gibson, "I'm sure everybody who doesn't actually live on Garfield will be all for it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA