SUNDAY, NOVEMBER SB, I960
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
Logging Railroad Will Close;
Traffic Problem May Develop
By GREG NOKES
Mail Tribun. staff Writer
,The historic Medford corpo
ration logging railroad will
soon be no more. Plans are in
the making to replace the
railroad with a private truck
road, and at least one agency
uie cuy of Medford-is not
too happy about it.
The railroad has a colorful
History dating back 50 vpar
It was constructed in 1910 to
transport timber from forests
rear Butte Falls to Medford
jumber mills-a distance in ex.
cess of 30 miles.
While the road has changed
hands several times through
the years it is still used for its
original purpose of hauling
logs. It is one of the last of
many such logging railroads
that once were common in
Pacific Northwest forests.
Freeway Construction
Construction of the (lew
freeway will necessitate re
moval of the road. According
to freeway plans, the railroad
crosses the location of the
Crater Lake highway inter
change. Since it is incompatible
with the interchange struc
ture it would have to be relo
cated. The state highway com
mission, which would pay for
the relocation, has said that it
would be cheaper to construct
a private truck road for Med
co than it would be to relocate
the railroad.
It is not the truck road it
eelf that has aroused the op
position of Medford's city ad
ministration, but it is the man
ner in which the road will
cross Highway 99.
Overpasses Planned
The state plans to build
overpasses for the truck road
at Biddle rd. and the new
freeway. It plans to provide
grade (level) crossings at Bul
lock rd. and Highway 99.
The truck road will cross
Highway 99 approximately
320 feet north of the Crater
Lake highway intersection.
The road will be 30 feet
wide and surfaced with crush
ed rock or gravel. It will be
owned by Medco and restrict
ed for exclusive use by Medco
logging trucks. These trucks
will be oversized vehicles that
are prohibited from using
public highways. The maxi-
I mum gross weight of the ve-
nicies and loads will be 120,
000 pounds.
By Medco's own estimates,
there will be approximately
100 of these trucks using the
road per day-60 coming and
50 going. Trips will be made
only between the hours of
5:du a.m. and 5:30 p.m., which
means there will be at least
one crossing of Highway 99
every Vh minutes.
Trucks Have Right of Way
The city probably would
not object if public traffic
would have right of way over
the private trucks at the cros
sing. But, the contrary is true
-the trucks will have the
right of way over public traffic.
Eye Level 'Poles'
Aid Landing Pilot
London - (Science Service)
-A new flight indicator en
ables the pilot of an aircraft
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when the pilot has to transfer
his attention back and forth
from instruments to visual
flight.
The indicator was develop
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instrument flight control
equipment on their three-jet
short-haul airliner, the Airco
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The new system was de
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attitude.
On the truck road, near the
Highway 99 crossing, there
will be an automatic signal
ing device. When a truck
nears the intersection it will
trip this device causing a red
light to flash on Highway 99,
thereby stopping 99 traffic. It
would, in effect, be the same
as any other stop light.
A maximum speed limit of
10 miles per hour has been
set for the trucks while cross
ing any public road or high
way. Highway 99, at this
point, will be reinforced so as
to support the weight of the
trucks. ,
There are two chief reasons
why the city frowns on this
set up. One, it doesn't like the
idea of giving private traffic
the right of way over public
traffic. And two, it fears the
frequent stops by public traf
fic at the truck crossing will
congest the Crater Lake high
way intersection to the south
which is already a bottleneck
at times.
Approval of the truck road
is not yet a certainty. The ap
plications, one by the state
and one by Medco, have been
submitted to the Public Utili
ties commission and a decision
by that body may yet be
weeks off.
However, the state highway
commission is the agency that
Ex-Civil Workers
Review Proposals
An "up-to-date view" of pro
posed changes in the constitu
tion and by-laws for the Na
tional Association of Retired
Civil Employees', Southern
Oregon chapter, was present
ed at a meeting Friday.
Clarence G. Davis, Portland,
president of the Oregon feder
ation and one of the seven
man committee presently re
vamping the working methods
of the organization, presented
the proposed changes, some of
which are to be voted upon
by the chapters.
Friday evening, Davis con
ferred with former state fed
eration president Clarence L.
Williams, Ashland. Davis re
turned to Portland Saturday,
is carrying the ball on this
proposal and at least one city
official feels the PUC will
merely "rubber-stamp" what
ever the highway commission
wants.
Hearing Held
The PUC held a hearing on
the matter in Medford on Oct
21, at which time the city or
anyone elsa was expected to
voice its opposition.
City Attorney Joel Reeder
said, however, that the notice
of the hearings was sent to
the city only three days prior
to the hearing Itself. It was
the first time the city had
heard of the Highway 99
grade crossing, he said.
At the hearing, Reeder re
quested additional time to file
objections with the PUC. The
hearing examiner granted the
necessary time and a list of
city objections were filed with
the PUC on Oct. 26.
'Undesirable Situation'
In the list of objections the
city terms the right of way
j priority of private trucks over
public, traffic "an undesirable
situation." The city suggests
that the situation be remedied
by constructing an underpass
or overpass for the private
road at Highway 99.
In a rebuttal to the city's
objections the slate highway
commission said the under
pass is not feasible due to the
size of the trucks and the
overpass would cost a mini
mum of $50,000- which Is too
much. It also contends that an
overpass would restrict the
movements of Medco trucks
on the south side of the inter
section and the overpass itself
would restrict the view of
southbound traffic entering
Highway 99 from Table Rock
rd.
The state summed up Its
objections to an under or over
crossing with the statement
that "any requirement for a
separation of grade would in
volve costs and objectionable
features which are not justi
fied." Several lesser suggestions
have been made by the city
which it feels would help pre
vent potential traffic conges-
tion Droblems. One of these is
a suggestion to synchronize
the truck crossing and inter
sectional signals. In its rebut
tal the state highway commis-
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sion, in effect, calls all of
them Impractical, impossible
or too costly.
Plan Presented
The state contends that the
"plan presented constitutes a
practical, feasible and reason
able solution for the control
of traffic and practicable re
duction of hazards at the pro
proposed intersection."
It adds that if the PUC
doesn't approve , the grade
crossing it "may result In com
plications which would delay
and greatly increase the cost
of the (freeway) construction
between Seven Oaks and
Jackson st."
Despite the stale's assur
ances that the private road
will not cause any major
traffic congestion problems,
the city feels to the contrary.
City Manager Robert A. Duff
terms possible congestion as
"likely."
Average- Cars Per Day
Medford Public Works Di
rector Vernon Thorpe points
out that in 1959 an average
of 17,600 cars a day used
Highway 99 where the cross
ing is to be located.
Upon completion of the
freeway in early 1962, he
said, only an estimated 2,000
of these cars will be diverted
by the freeway. There will
still be 13,600 cars using High
way 99 at that point and this
figure is subject to "normal
annual increases."
One of the things that
Thorpe is most concerned
about is when traffic having
a green light off of Crater
Lake highway hits a red light
at the truck crosing. There is
good chance, he said, that
it would cause traffic to back
up through the Crater Lake
intersection.
The state claims that the
maximum time for which ve
hicles could be stopped "be
tween" the two signals would
be 24 seconds and the mini
mum interval allowed to cross
the private road intersection
would be 50 seconds.
Commission Estimate
The highway commission
also estimates that north
bound traffic entering High
way 99 from Crater Lake
highway "will not exceed 300
vehicles per day."
Medco was not the origina
tor or Hie private road idea
and should not be blamed for
any problems that might re-
suit, according to the city administration.
Both City Manager Duff
and city Attorney Joel Reed
er feel the state has promoted
and backed the whole idea.
and Medco is going along
with it for the simple reason
that it needs some way to net
its logs across the highway
to the mill.
Comments by B. L. ffindi
Nutting, general manager of
Medco, tend to bear this out.
Nutting said it doesn't really
make much difference which
Medco, has-the railroad or the
truck road. He said the com
pany probably would rather
have the railroad because it is
now one-quarter mile shorter
than the truck road will be.
Declines to Comment
Nutting declined to com
ment on the city's objections
to the road and said that such
comments should be left up
to the state. He did say, how
ever, that it probably will be
much cheaper for the state to
build the private road than
relocate the railroad.
The stale will pay for the
relocated portion of the pri
vate road from east of Bullock
rd. to west of Highway 99.
Medco will pay the cost of
construction of the rest of the
road to Butte Falls, which
will follow, for the most part,
the route now taken by the
railroad.
In turn for its payment for
construction of a portion of
the private road, the stale
will acquire right of way from
Medco needed for the free
way. The private road also will
cross Crater Lake highway
near Eagle Point, at approxi
mately the same place as the
railroad now crosses. This
also will be a grade crossing
and probably will have the
same signal setup as the one
on Highway 99.
Not City Matter
Actually the Highway 99
crossing is not a city matter
and the city can only voice Its
objections to it. The highway
is a state highway and the
state has complete control and
authority over what goes on
there.
Bui, if the consequences of
the truck crossing are bad,
and several city officials think
they will be, the city does not
want to be blamed for them.
And, for this reason, the city
administration has gone on
record against it.
The city's opposition is un
official, having been voiced
by members of the city admin
istration and not the city
council. To be official oppo
sition the council would have
to take action. Duff said the
council has discussed the
matter, but to his knowledge
is not contemplating taking
any action.
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