Mail Tribune News - Phoenix improvement district may grow

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Phoenix improvement district may grow PHOENIX -- A proposed local improvement district to pay for road improvements around the Fern Valley Road I-5 interchange keeps getting bigger and bigger. While a final boundary decision is still far off, the City Council on Monday directed staff to research the possibility of including property on the west side of Interstate 5, including parcels to the north and south of Fern Valley Road. A third study session on the topic is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. November 15. Mayor Larry Parducci raised the issue because of the need to relocate the intersection of Luman Road further from the I-5 off-ramps to improve safety and improve traffic flow when signals are installed at those off-ramps. Installing the signals is a high priority for the state. The state has committed $2.45 million to finance improvements at the interchange in 2002. As originally proposed, the funding district would have only charged the owners of property east of I-5 and south of Fern Valley Road to help pay for the construction of a new South Phoenix Road and widening of Fern Valley Road. But some council members balked at the preliminary cost for individual property owners and directed staff to present an option that includes the property north of Fern Valley Road. With a larger district, council members hope to lower the cost to individual property owners. One of the options under consideration is to ask all of the property owners east of I-5 and within the city's urban growth boundary to help finance the improvements. Mail Tribune Copyright �  The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA