Medford to reduce portion of main street to two lanes, add bike lanes

MEDFORD, Ore- The Medford city council officially approved new striping changes to main street reducing traffic to two lanes.

This summer the city said East Main Street from Bear Creek to Oakdale in downtown Medford will be repaved.

The street will be re-striped to accommodate two dedicated bike lanes narrowing the road from three lanes to two.

The city first proposed new bike lanes downtown last August to improve walking, biking and rolling access.

“This one really came down to a policy decision issue,” Medford public works director John Vial said. “What do we want the downtown to look like. And the city council voted 6-2 to proceed with the project because they feel this is going to take some steps to improve the downtown area and improve it’s economic viability and make it a more attractive place to walk or ride.”

Vial said it’s unknown how long the project will take, or if there will be any street closures.

He believes the road has more than enough capacity for the additional bike lanes not to have a huge impact on traffic flow.