Soon, this two mile stretch of Foothill Road from Delta Waters to Hillcrest Road will be widening from two lanes to four.
The project is expected to start in the spring of next year, with construction lasting up to three years.
The goal is to ease congestion, make the road safer and provide an alternative to I-5.
The project has been in development for years and money for future road projects, will likely be used to fund this one.
“The future street projects is likely to be the area that sees the greatest impact but the huge majority of those projects are not being canceled,” Medford public works director John Vial said. “They’ll just be delayed. And we don’t have names of those specific projects yet because we’re still doing this exercise.”
One bidder for the project says it will cost $56 million to complete.
That’s $11 million higher than the city’s original estimate in 2020.
$18 million dollars in federal grants, $10 million in an ODOT loan and $3 million from the county will be used to pay for the corridor.
The rest will be funded via “gas tax” revenue the city receives.
When construction does begin, the city will be asking people to avoid the area due to the narrow nature of the road.
“There is simply not enough room to move people around this very busy road,” Vial said. “The driver should expect considerable delays on this corridor and we strongly advise that other routes be utilized until this project’s done.”
The northern stretch of Foothill Road beginning at Dry Creek Road is owned by Jackson County.
It’s part of the same project, but will be funded separately for around $6 million.
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