Transportation System Plan 2018-2038

of these gaps would be connected by the proposed street im provem ent and/or urban upgrade projects identified in Chapter 5. Most of the rem aining sy stem gaps are identified in Table 10-5. A key exception is the north/south Crater Lake Avenue corridor and the east-west McAndrews Road corridor where developm ent of bicy cle facilities could be extrem ely expensive and have significant im pacts. Specific projects and a process to address identified sy stem gaps is discussed in Chapter 10. The Rogue Valley region is com mitted to improving the bicycle sy stem and is including the developm ent of new bicy cle facilities as a m ajor priority in the 2001-2023 Regional Transportation Plan ’s Alternative Measures package. The A lternative Measures package was drafted by the RVMPO in an effort to bring the Rogue Valley region into com pliance with the TPR requirem ent for a per-capita reduction in vehicle miles of travel (VMT). This requirem ent is intende d to reduce vehicular congestion in the urban areas of the state and to encourage the developm ent and use of alternative transportation m odes such as transit, walking and bicy cling. As the R ogue Valley region would have difficulty in meeting the goal of reducing VMT by the required am ount (five percent over the twenty -year planning period), seven alternatives to this goal were suggested by the RVMPO and endorsed by the Land Conservation and Developm ent Com mission. The installation of additional bicy cle facilities was identified as one m easure that could be implem ented to assist in m eeting the TPR goal of increased travel m ode diversity in the Rogue Valley region. Under this measure, phased targets in five y ear increm ents over the next 20 years have been established requiring a specific and increasing percentage of the arterial and collector street sy stem to include bicy cle facilities. In addition to m eeting the requirem ents of the A lternative Measures package, Oregon Revised Statue (ORS) 366.514 requires the provision of bicy cle and pedestrian facilities on all arterial and major collector roadway construction, reconstruction, or relocation projects where conditions perm it. The statute also states that in any fiscal y ear, at least one percent of road im provem ent funds in a jurisdiction must be allocated for bicy cle/pedestrian projects. Nearly all of the major roadway projects listed in the 2001-2023 Rogue Valley Regional Transportation Plan include developm ent of bicy cle facilities. A lthough these planned im provem ents will provide better connections in m any areas, additional im provem ents are needed to strengthen general connectivity throughout the City . Providing access to activity centers (particularly including the four designated transit oriented developm ent locations within the city), schools, parks, a nd neighborhoods will be a key impetus behind the im plem entation of future bicy cle/pedestrian projects as discussed in Chapter 10 of the TSP. Pedestrian Transportation System The City of Medford sidewalk sy stem varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood. Sidewalks exist in m ost of the downtown area and in surroundi ng older neighborhoods, particularly to the west and south of the downtown core. These sidewalks provide connections linking m any of the residential areas to such pedestrian attractors as schools, com mercial areas and em ployment opportunities. However, many of the older neighborhoods on the east side of the city either do not have sidewalks or have only a limited and disconnected sidewalk sy stem . On the arte rial and collector street sy stem , the availability of sidewalks is generally erratic and incom plete. On many blocks, the sidewalks m ay be present on one side Medford Transportatio n System Plan 3-42 Existing Conditions