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55 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, September 20, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 8, 2004 Pine Street bridge traffic should flow soon By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Work to replace the older half of the Pine Street bridge is complete and county engineers anticipate all three lanes over Bear Creek will be in use by Oct. 1. County construction engineer Mike Kuntz said crews from Ross Brothers Construction of Salem were repaving what will now be considered the "older" portion and had minor adjustments to make to ensure both halves function as one bridge. The five-lane span is actually made up of two structures — three-lanes built in the 1980s alongside another two — those recently replaced — built in 1946. The bridge was unexpectedly closed in May 2002 when state engineers found the span could potentially, and catastrophically, fail. At the time of its closure, the bridge was handling more than 28,000 vehicle trips per day and traffic loads heavier than the 80,000 pounds permitted at the time it was originally built. Kuntz said the $4.1 million project, funded by the Federal Bridge Replacement Program and Jackson County, had caused more delays than motorists would have preferred but the congestion had not been entirely unbearable. Advertisement "Traffic has been slow but I’m not aware of any major problems that didn’t include major national figures," Kuntz said with a laugh, alluding to a recent visit by presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry. "The fair, from what I hear, didn’t do too bad ... not to say people weren’t delayed but it wasn’t anywhere near what it could have been." As for regular rush-hour traffic, Kuntz added, "We believe enough people have chosen to go alternate routes that traffic levels have stayed about the same." Having endured two years of county fairground events, political visits by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Kerry in addition to everyday rush hour, local trucking companies say restoring the bridge to five lanes cannot happen soon enough. "We use that bridge a bunch and it’s really been a hassle, especially as we were going through and there was nothing going on a lot of the time. Seems like they really drug their heels on it," said Rex Walters, co-owner of Plunk Transportation. Mark Mallory, safety dispatch for Oldland Distributing said he could sympathize with the length of time involved to build a bridge but was ready for 5 p.m. traffic backups to be over. "That intersection there clogs up really bad," Mallory said. "You can go out through Medford to go south but it’s easier for our drivers to just go out that way and deal with it. "It’s about a mile shorter," Mallory said, adding that when the intersection is "plugged solid," he avoids it entirely on his way home from work. Mallory said replacing the bridge probably took as long as it needed to. "They can’t do it in a week, that’s for sure," he said. "Look at the freeway going north up to Portland. Some of that’s been closed off for a year or more." Project spokesman Todd Ross of Ross Brothers in Salem said the bridge replacement worked fairly smoothly thanks to cooperation between contractors and state and county agencies. With its Oct. 1 reopening, the bridge will have been completed prior to its original project start date of May 2005. "It’s gone pretty smooth," Ross said. "There’ve been a few hiccups with kind of waiting on materials and steel prices going up, but we’ve had some cost savings and working with the state and the county has been really good. "They’ve given us quick response times on everything. Usually trying to get responses from everybody is what kills a project." Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford.E-mail her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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