Transportation System Plan 2018-2038

is currently located along the old Medco Haul Road between the Bear Creek Path and the Crater Lake Shopping Center (near Lear Way ). ODOT presently owns the property containing this path, which is slated to becom e an alternate route for Highway 62. The City ’s Southeast Plan proposes a system of multi-use paths along various forks of Larson Creek. These paths would eventually com bine into one facility , and this path would extend to the west eventually connecting to the Bear Creek path. This facility woul d serve as a bicy cle/pedestrian alternative to Barnett Road. The multi-use paths are shown on both the Pe destrian Facilities and Bicy cle Facilities m aps in Figures 3-6 and 3-7. Rail Service This section describes existing freight rail service in the Medford planning area and passenger rail service that is available to residents and visitors to the region. Freight Rail Service Freight rail service in the Medford area is provided by the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad (CORP). CORP is Oregon’ s second largest short line railroad, operating on 391 route m iles and 8 miles of trackage rights in the state. The entire length of CORP track age is categorized as a Class III railroad. According to the 2001 Oregon Rail Plan , the route m iles of CORP com prise 16 percent of all route m iles statewide. CORP connects the Medford area to the southern Willam ette Valley through the Union Pacific Yard in Eugene, serving Springfield, Cottage Grove, Rosebur g, Glendale, and Grants Pass as interm ediate destinations. To the south, CORP connects Medfor d to Ashland, as well as destinations in northern California through Black Butte. CORP also provides service to the Oregon Coast, connecting Eugene with Reedsport, Coos Bay and Coquille. CORP’s trackage is characterized by steep grades and tight turns that lim it operating speeds to about 25 to 35 m iles per hour. Forty -three m iles of track are lim ited to an operating speed of only 10 m iles per hour. CORP’s line south from Medford is one of the m ost rugged rail lines in the western United States with gradients that approach 3.25 percent. Figure 3-4 illu strates the alignm ent of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad through the City of Medford. Since the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad Com pany took over the form er Southern Pacific Railroad’s Siskiy ou line in January 1995, rail service has increased and is now being offered six day s per week. Generally , two trips per day are m ade in each dir ection on the line; however, this schedule is not consistent and there is som e variation. Service in creases have led to an expansion in the num ber of cars available to carry freight, reaching a level of appr oxim ately 28,000 cars per y ear. This is a significant increase over the 12,000 cars per y ear carried by the Southe rn Pacific Railroad when it operated the line. According to the 2001 Oregon Rail Plan , CORP carries between 1 and 5 m illion tons of cargo each y ear. The CORP is undertaking an aggressive m aintenan ce program and is try ing to increase operating speeds to 25 m iles per hour and to ease som e of the height restrictions currently in place on the line. Loan guarantees by the Federal Railroad Adm inistration ar e being sought to help fund m aintenance needs. Rail service provides specific advantages for various bulk com modities or loads longer than those norm ally perm itted on highway s. Lum ber and othe r wood products are the principal commodities transported over the Central Oregon & Pacific line. However, even with recent increases in railroad traffic, the total volum e of rail freight is far less th an the highway freight tonnage for the region. Based on inform ation contained in the 2001-2023 Rogue Valley Regional Transportation Plan , the com bined highway and rail freight tonna ge in the I-5 corridor alone is estim ated at 25 m illion tons annually . The rail freight portion accounts for between 5 and 10 percent of th is total. However, if this railroad were not Medford Transportatio n System Plan 3-45 Existing Conditions