Outgoing Medford public works director John Vial spent more than three decades guiding transportation infrastructure at state, county and city levels

Nearing a month since he “officially” retired on July 1, outgoing city of Medford Public Works Director John Vial has been doing exactly what those who’ve worked alongside him for much of his three decades in public service expected he would do in retirement.

He’s continued advising the city on public works projects, weighed in on state transportation funding challenges and been a go-to for regional leaders calling on his institutional knowledge of the region’s transportation system.

Vial was on hand one morning last week, checking on a project along Cedar Links Drive, moving dirty traffic cones for an asphalt truck and chatting with crews. Even after official retirement, he stuck around to help out wherever he might be needed.

Those closest to the 63-year-old say his gradual exit is indicative of his work ethic in all the roles, spanning from city to state level government, that he’s held.

Vial came to Southern Oregon in the mid-1990s to lead development of the Big X interchange and moved into the role of Oregon Department of Transportation district manager. He served a dozen years in that role before being recruited as the Jackson County Parks and Roads director, a role he held from 2008-2021.

Vial joined the city of Medford in August 2021, rounding out his experience at all levels of government.

Ironically, transportation was never on his radar as a potential career.

A Roseburg native who moved to Grants Pass as a child, Vial graduated from North Valley High School and went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in geography and a master of science in Geoscience from Oregon State University in 1988 and 1990 respectively.

After a stint working for the Washington Department for Ecology, he took his job with ODOT, guiding large scale projects for the region, like the moving of the South Medford interchange and a controversial crossing-diamond interchange for Fern Valley Road in Phoenix.

For Jackson County, he navigated projects such as removal of the Gold Ray Dam and provided guidance during regional emergencies.

“It was quite the shift,” Vial said of his departure from a planned natural resources gig.

“I thought I’d end up doing natural resources management but never ended up working directly in that field.”

Those closest to Vial say the region and state benefited from Vial’s departure from his original plan.

Retired ODOT public information officer Gary Leaming, who retired from ODOT in 2023, called Vial a great mentor and a strong, compassionate public servant who mentored countless regional leaders.

Leaming met Vial in 2001 after transitioning from a media career, and remembers Vial, who at one point served as interim region manager for all of Southwest Oregon, for his collaborative nature and work ethic.

“His depth of knowledge of all things transportation is immense. He’s very organized, a great people person, a problem solver and communicator,” Leaming said.

“Working between the state, county and city, we wanted to all collaborate and have each other’s backs. … John was at the forefront of that and I think it paid huge dividends in the projects we got in Southern Oregon and the maintenance practices of overlapping jurisdictions.”

When the city of Medford had no plows, Vial facilitated ODOT road crews to clear emergency routes, Leaming said. During a snowstorm in 2003, which left motorists stranded on the Siskiyou Pass, Leaming said Vial “rewrote the way both Oregon and Northern California transportation officials dealt with the treacherous pass.”

“I remember crews couldn’t keep up with the snow, but they didn’t close it… and there were people stranded overnight between Hilt and mile point 1,” Leaming said.

“It was a disaster up there. I was called by John the next morning to help with media, but John had been up all night with some of the crew, trying to get it open.”

Leaming said Vial’s troubleshooting and handling of the 2003 event resulted in “pre-winter coordination meetings with Caltrans on how best to manage Siskiyou Summit and treat it as a corridor from Ashalnd to Redding.”
Leaming added, “Essentially, this no-man’s land, dead zone, where we now had that overlap.”

Jeremiah Griffin, ODOT District 3 district manager said Vial’s mentorship had left a lasting impression.

“Regardless of what agency you work for, there are a lot of us that lean on John for his knowledge, his history and his experience,” Griffin said, noting that Vial was “somebody who understood the importance of relationships.”

“Our operational plans and things we still do are things where John learned the hard way and found better ways to do them. The storm in 2003 is a perfect example. It’s been over 20 years ago, and we still talk about those times with our partners in California,” Griffin added, noting that even after Vial left ODOT he still checked on those he worked with.

Griffin noted, “He’ll still call during big storms and say, ‘Hey. Hang in there, I know what you’re going through.”

Vial said navigating the Siskiyou Pass and helping the region through trying times were accomplishments he was proud of. He joked that local agencies, during heavy snowfall years, would unofficially take bets, guessing whether the region would get snow on June 1.

The latest snowfall on the Siskiyou Pass, during his tenure, occurred on May 31 one year.

“That pass is a handful,” Vial said.

“That winter 20 years ago. … It was the winter that never stopped. I remember I always wanted to be able to say that we had a pass that required snowplows in June, but we never got to.”

Snowstorms aside, Vial’s efforts in 2020 — during the pandemic and devastating summer wildfires — garnered a state recognition when Vial, who led the county emergency operations center at the Expo, was named Oregon Road Official of the Year.

Jackson County Roads and Parks Director Steve Lambert called Vial “the best boss I’ve had” and someone who “really cared about the citizens of Jackson County and about having a functional transportation system for them.”

“John was one of the fiercest and most loyal people for whoever he was working for. … It made for some pretty fun conversations with him when he developed agreements for one place that would come up in conversation at another.” Lambert said.

“When you’re in a small geographic area and you move around, you leave a bread crumb of trails. … but I’ve never met somebody who was more devoted to their career as much as John. He was always the first one here in the morning and always the last one here at night, just working his tail off for the public.”

Jackson County Administrator Danny Jordan called Vial “the kind of leader every community hopes to have;” who didn’t just “direct the work,” but who “did the work.”

“In 2020, when Jackson County was devastated by the horrific fires that tore through our communities, John stepped forward. When things felt unstable and overwhelming, he became a steady hand, a voice of calm, a force of action. He organized, coordinated, and led with a quiet strength that helped us all begin to recover and rebuild,” Jordan said in a speech during Vial’s retirement ceremony.

“And if that wasn’t enough, at the very same time, he was helping guide the county through the uncertainty of a global pandemic. Managing evolving regulations, limited resources, and keeping our infrastructure running smoothly. John did it all, with grace and grit.”

Jordan recognized Vial as a mentor who brought “quiet wisdom, constant encouragement and unwavering professionalism” and someone who “lifts people up, brings people together, and leads not from above, but from beside us.”

Jordan said, “John’s legacy isn’t just built into our roads, our parks or our restored landscapes. It’s etched into the people he’s guided, the teams he’s led, and the communities he’s strengthened.”

Vial, who recently weighed in on ongoing funding struggles from the state level, said he was hopeful transportation funding improves for all the entities he’s helped lead.

“We’re definitely at a critical point locally, statewide, and nationwide, and I think it’s becoming a crisis to where, if we don’t make some big investments, we’re going to see some seriously declining conditions,” Vial said.

“I’m leaving the city in good shape but, looking toward the future, it’s going to get harder and harder. … We have not seen funding at this level in a long time and we’re kind of at a crisis point.”

Vial said he looked forward to retirement with his wife of 41 years, four children and six grandchildren. 

For all the projects managed, he said the most rewarding thing about any of his roles were the people he worked alongside.

“What stands out the most to me is the people. … When I think about my career and working in those three organizations, I just am so impressed with the level of commitment all the organizations have in trying to do a good job,” Vial said.

“Government is easy to pick on, easy to poke holes in and find problems, but when you get down to the worker level, they all just want to come to work, work hard and do a good job. … that’s what we all should want.”

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.