Medford traffic planners should focus on heart of city

I read with interest the piece by Damian Mann on Dec. 6, about road congestion.

It is commendable that the Planning Commission and the Transportation Committee are forward looking to make sure some of the past transportation issues are not repeated on new developments.

What about correcting some of the major old issues, i.e. Crater Lake Avenue intersection with East Main Street?

As a Medford native who has traveled trough that intersection thousands of times in 50 years, has the city started any long term right-of-way strategy to connect that intersection with 12th Street and the Cottage Street Bridge? This would provide a connection to both Riverside and Central avenues, bypassing the downtown area.

I know it would disrupt an old neighborhood; we can’t avoid that if you want to fix the problem. Relocation assistance may be needed. The geography of that area will never change and allow us a better option. Look at a map.

At the very least, get it on a planning map so future planners can begin thinking about issues and perhaps work on grants to help fund the project. When traveling North on Riverside, there is no easy way to get to Crater Lake Avenue. Narrow neighborhood streets are used by many.

If a connection from 12th Street and Riverside Avenue was made, it would provide an alternative emergency route bypassing downtown Medford. Emergency alternate routes are important now days.

Congrats for fixing Foothill Road. Now how about addressing the heart of Medford?

Larry Van Ausdall / Medford

Drivers of larger vehicles should monitor blindspots

If you are driving a large square-hooded vehicle that Detroit has popularized in recent years, I have one word for you to consider: manslaughter.

It’s an ugly word. Righteously so. In Oregon, “vehicular manslaughter is a Class A felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and no possibility of parole.”

Just in the past month, I’ve seen two wheelchair users knocked to the curb. I witnessed the first incident Nov. 17 at the east entrance to the north Fred Meyer parking lot. On Dec. 11, I saw the aftermath of a second such accident across from Providence Hospital on McAndrews Road.

Again, a large, square-nosed vehicle exiting a parking lot had knocked a person in a motorized wheelchair to the curb. In the interim, I heard from another wheelchair user who’d herself been knocked over in Medford. A friend of hers likewise had been thrown to the curb in the driveway of Dazey’s hardware.

Fortunately, no fatalities. Yet, any might have been. Driver inattention is a threat.

Another factor raising pedestrian fatalities is unique to the United States: The rising height of large square-nosed vehicles. Many pedestrians — especially little persons and wheelchair users — are literally “out of sight, out of mind.”

Professional truckers generally mind their “four large blindspots.” Motorists should too.

Alberto Enriquez / Medford