A plan to shift a quarter of the traffic off congested Highway 62 in Medford is taking shape as transportation officials move forward with a $100 million bypass route.
The project would begin just east of Poplar Avenue and create a two-lane highway running roughly along the old Medco Haul Road for 3.5 miles to just south of White City.
Motorists would use the route as a way to avoid the busiest stretch of Highway 62, which has more than 40,000 vehicle trips a day in the heavily traveled shopping areas in Medford.
Projections indicate that 26 percent of drivers on the highway would use the bypass.
The project would be funded through Oregon House Bill 2001, which provided more than $900 million in transportation projects over 10 years throughout the state.
The money will be raised through bonds and by increasing motor vehicle fees and the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon.
To qualify for the $100 million locally, the project must begin by 2013. Tim Fletcher, project leader for the Oregon Department of Transportation, said the bypass could go to bid by June 2012.
Fletcher said one major issue to be resolved is whether to construct a signal so motorists can enter the bypass west of Whittle Avenue in Medford or to build a bridge to allow the free-flowing movement of traffic. Whittle Avenue is about three-quarters of a mile east of Interstate 5.
The bridge would be built on the existing Highway 62 to accommodate vehicles driving toward I-5. Motorists traveling away from I-5 would drive under the bridge to reach the bypass road.
The bypass would have no on- or off-ramps from that point until it ends near White City, about a mile past Vilas Road.
A bridge would be built over Vilas that could ultimately accommodate four lanes, but no ramps would be built there during the first phase of the project. Another bridge would be built over Justice Road.
Fletcher said transportation officials are debating whether to use a signal at the White City end of the bypass or to build another bridge to make it easier for traffic to get on and off.
Because more turn lanes would be needed to merge traffic onto the bypass, Highway 62 in Medford would have to be widened in certain sections.
ODOT spokesman Gary Leaming said the main goal is to design a route that motorists can use to avoid the congestion through Medford.
"It has to work from day one," he said.
To maximize the length of the bypass and to save money, Leaming said it would be built with only one lane in each direction.
"We're trying to push this as far north as possible," Leaming said. "We're trying to push it past Vilas Road."
Eventually, transportation officials would like to extend the bypass along the north side of the Department of Veterans Affairs' domiciliary in White City, from where it would reconnect with the existing Highway 62.
Leaming said it will take several years to finalize designs and to purchase property along the route.
Leaming said transportation officials have been working for years to find a way to build the bypass. The Legislature's funding plan gave it a critical boost.
"Anybody who drives on Highway 62 knows we need to get the first phase of the project on the ground and operating," he said.
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com.
