Transportation System Plan 2018-2038

available to carry com modities, there m ay be som e impact on state freight routes in southern Oregon, particularly I-5 as com modities shift to truck trans port. In Jackson County , much of the com modities carried by the CORP go south into California. Thus , the prim ary freeway impact of losing this railroad would likely be experienced on the Siskiy ou crossing. According to the freight users survey conducted by the RVMPO as part of its freight sy stem analy sis, two key issues were identified affecting rail freight in the Rogue Valley area. These included: • Lack of an interm odal facility for rail-to-truck freight m ovem ent (the nearest interm odal facility is a rail/truck reload facility located in Grants Pass) • Inadequate supply of shipping containers in the valley leading to the suggestion that a container pool be established. The 2001 Oregon Rail Plan identifies several policies that are pertinent to the provision of freight rail service in the Medford UGB. These include: • Encouraging provision of interm odal reload f acilities in areas such as Medford when market forces dictate. • Providing level of service C or better on Oregon highway s serving interm odal facilities during off-peak periods. • Providing high quality highway access to term inal and reload facilities for transfers from truck to rail for long haul m ovem ent of freight. Additionally , the Rail Plan identifies actions that can be taken by local governm ents to m itigate conflicts between rail and vehicular traffic, and to im prove access to freight facilities. These actions include: • Avoid or m inimize the num ber of future railroad at -grade crossings when new streets are planned for growing portions of the com munity . • Avoid creating intersections of m ajor streets and railroads where possible. • Locate new parallel streets at least 500 feet from the railroad to allow for industrial developm ent between the tracks and the highway • .Plan com munity developm ent (particularly residential uses) with sensitivity to rail noise and other potential conflicts. Existing Railroad Crossings Table 3-18 presents a sum mary of existing railroad crossings in the Medford area along with ty pe of crossing, presence of crossing protection devices, a general assessm ent of condition of pavem ent at the crossing based on a visual assessm ent, and other inform ation. Pavem ent condition affects vehicular mobility at the crossings and is particularly significant for bicy cle circulation. Medford Transportatio n System Plan 3-46 Existing Conditions