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Several major transportation projects in Southern Oregon will wrap up in 2019 and new ones will kick off. “We have quite a few projects still in the hopper for 2019 that we’re going to finish up,” said Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Gary Leaming. Under construction since 2016, the Rogue Valley Expressway will open by the end of spring, easing congestion on Highway 62 north of Medford, ODOT officials said. The Siskiyou Rest Area and Welcome Center along I-5 south of Ashland is projected to open in April, Leaming said. It replaces a rest area higher up on the Siskiyou Pass that was closed in 1997 following a series of crashes involving semi trucks. Work on the new facility started in late 2015. In Grants Pass, the rehabilitation of the Caveman Bridge, built in 1931, will wrap up in February, Leaming said. During the summer of 2017, workers constructed a new deck overlay for the southbound lanes of the I-5 viaduct through Medford. In 2019, the northbound lanes will get the same treatment, he said. The project will require the closure of one lane of northbound travel, but work will be done at night to ease impacts on drivers. Both northbound lanes will be open during the day, Leaming said. ODOT and Jackson County road workers will team up next summer to chip seal a section of Highway 62 between Trail and Casey State Park. The project was postponed due to wildfires that led to evacuation alerts in the area. In addition, a firefighter camp was staged at Joseph H. Stewart State Park. “We didn’t want our contractor out there working with firefighters trying to get to the fire, or should there have been an evacuation order, we didn’t want our contractor out there either. So we canceled that project,” Leaming said. Also in 2019, a three-year project will begin to repair and replace concrete panels along I-5 in the snow zone between Ashland and the California border. Work on Exit 6, which provides access to Callahan’s Lodge and the Mt. Ashland Ski Area, will take place in the second and third years of the project. Drivers in each direction will be restricted to a single lane of traffic at times, Leaming said. ODOT also plans to replace signals at 126 intersections in more than a dozen Southern Oregon communities, including Medford, Ashland and Eagle Point, he said. The I-5 northbound off-ramp at Central Point will get another turn lane to accommodate the heavy traffic that exits there, Leaming said. The Jackson County Roads Department has projects lined up to benefit drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. A major reconstruction project along Table Rock Road is wrapping up, with only minor details left, such as final striping, said Jackson County Project Engineer James Philp. The project included a new traffic signal at the Airport Road intersection, bike lanes, sidewalks and turn lanes, county officials said. Next up for Table Rock Road is the installation of a new traffic signal at the intersection with Gregory Road, Philp said. “There are a lot of accidents from vehicles pulling out from Gregory onto Table Rock,” Philp said. A 2.5-mile segment of the Rogue River Greenway will be built — filling in the last gap of a continuous multi-use path between the towns of Rogue River and Gold Hill, he said. Rogue River Greenway supporters hope the path will eventually stretch from Central Point to Grants Pass. The Greenway is backed by a host of government agencies, businesses, nonprofit groups and individuals. The Bear Creek Greenway already connects communities between Central Point and Ashland. Other Jackson County projects include pavement overlays on Reese Creek Road and Butte Falls Highway from milepost 12 to the intersection with Crowfoot Road, Philp said. Jackson County will also continue its regular maintenance of roads through chip sealing and the painting of stripes, he said. Chip sealing involves applying a layer of gravel and asphalt onto roads. It’s a cost-effective way to maintain roads compared to pavement overlays or complete pavement replacement, according to county officials. Wherever road work is taking place, Leaming urged drivers to slow down and watch for workers. “As always, we want drivers to be mindful in those work zones,” he said. Doing so will help ensure that both drivers and workers make it home safely, he noted. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter @ VickieAldous .