Transportation System Plan 2018-2038

Summary of Street System Needs and Deficiencies The street sy stem in the Medford UGB consists of a one- and two-way grid sy stem in the downtown and in the older urban core area located largely to the west of downtown. The City is bisected by Interstate 5, running in a northwest to southeast direction on the east side of downtown. There are two interchanges with I-5 that serve Medford; at Highway 62 at the north end of town (serving the airport, Rogue Valley Mall and other “big box” com mercial areas, and the north west industrial portion of the city ), and Barnett Road at the south end of town serving m uch of the city’s residential area, as well as the com mercial node located in the interchange area. On the east side of I-5, the City’s street system follows a looser grid pattern and is characterized by a lack of higher order streets (arterial and collectors) that provide connections for longer distance, north-south through trips from one part of the city to another. Foothills Road/N. Phoenix Road on the eastern edge of the UGB provides the only arterial street connection that links the southern and northern portions of the UGB east of I-5. A partial north-south arterial connec tion is provided by Crater Lake Avenue, but this street truncates at Main Street east of the downtown core. A partial north-south collector connection has been designated along the Highland/Sunrise/Springbrook corridor, but the segm ent of this route between Main and Jackson Streets has not previously been desi gnated for a collector street function. This plan proposes this section as a Minor Collector. Because of th e lack of higher order street connectivity on the east side of town, traffic intrusion onto local streets is an identified problem . Better arterial and collector connections are available for east-west traffic on the east side of the UGB. The eastern portions of the UGB are also characterized by rolling topography and the street sy stem is influenced by this factor. Existing travel patterns within the Medford area focus on the m ajor activity centers within the city and on several m ajor travel corridors. Major activity cente rs include, but are not lim ited to such areas as the downtown core area, the Rogue Valley Mall, South Ga teway Center, Crater Lake Plaza, the com mercial strips along Biddle Road and Highway 99, and the airport area. Major travel corridors include Highway 99, Highway 62, McAndrews Road, Crater Lake Avenue, Barnett Road/Stewart Avenue, Colum bus Avenue/Sage Road, Foothill/North Phoenix Roads, Biddle Road, and Table Rock Road. Pending improvem ents to the South Medford interchange with I-5 will add Garfield Street to the list of major travel corridors within the city . Existing and Future Congestion Deficiencies Based on 2002 PM peak hour traffic volum es, existing traffic problem s focus largely on the state highway system including key intersections along Highway 62 , and in the vicinity of the two I-5 interchanges. Five signalized intersections under the jurisdiction of ODOT currently do not m eet the state’s m obility standards. Three signalized intersections under the jurisdiction of the City of Medford or Jackson County exceed the City ’s level of service D standard. An additional ten unsignalized intersections currently experience significant delay s for side street traffic (LOS E or F conditions). Eight of these intersections have been proposed for signalization to address the identified deficiencies, while the other two would be improved through larger street im provem ent projects. By 2023, growth in population, employment and through traffic volum es in the Medford UGB will result in increased traffic congestion on city streets and county roads within the UGB. As the community grows, traffic volum es will also grow leading to a worsening of existing congestion problem s and the addition of new problem locations. Significant improvem ents are planned to the North and South Me dford interchanges with I-5 that will address many of the existing and projected future intersection c ongestion problem s in the UGB. However, congestion Medford Transportation System Plan 1-6 Introduction and Executive Summary