Chapter 3 Existing Conditions
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Chapter 3 Existing Conditions An inventory and evaluation of the County’s existing rural transportation system was conducted to identify opportunities and constraints, and to provide the basis for developing short-range improvement recommendations. This rural transportation system includes Merlin, Murphy, Hugo, Sunny Valley, Wolf Creek, several small communities in the Illinois Valley outside of Cave Junction, and other locations. Inventory information was obtained from the 1982 Josephine County Roadway Plan, the 1982 Josephine County Bicycle Master Plan, street data maintained by the County Public Works Department, transit information from Josephine County Transit, highway data maintained by ODOT, and other information from various service providers and facility managers. System inventory and existing operations for the unincorporated area within the Grants Pass and Cave Junction urban areas are addressed in the TSP for these cities. The inventory and analysis of existing transportation system conditions includes: • Existing street characteristics including physical features, traffic control, current traffic operations and safety with primary emphasis on the major and minor collector street systems • Public transit • Other surface transportation such as intercity and dial-a-ride bus service • Air transportation • Pedestrian and bicycle systems • Freight transportation systems including trucking, rail, and pipeline transportation (there is no water-based transportation in Josephine County) Although all transportation system modes are inventoried, the street inventory is the most data intensive. It includes detailed tables and GIS-based maps describing major and minor collector roadway features. Among these features are: number of lanes; surface material; posted speeds; functional classification; facility and shoulder width; on-street parking; intersection traffic control; and pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Detailed tables are included in separate appendices that were attached to TSP Technical Memorandum #2: Existing Transportation Conditions which has been provided to the County Public Works Department and the ODOT Region 3 office in Roseburg. Roadway Inventory This section describes the existing street circulation system within rural Josephine County. Jurisdictional ownership and maintenance responsibilities, functional classification, physical features and traffic control, safety, and traffic operations including existing levels of service are summarized. Jurisdictional Responsibilities The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Josephine County, the City of Grants Pass and the City of Cave Junction all maintain portions of the existing street system within the county. Jurisdictional responsibility is summarized below for state highways, county roads, and private streets within rural Josephine County. County-maintained roadways within City UGBs are listed here without supporting details, as they are included in the TSPs of the two cities, as are facilities maintained by the two cities. Josephine County Rural TSP 3-1 Existing Conditions State Highways Six state-maintained highways pass through or within Josephine County, including Interstate 5 (I-5), US 199, OR 99, OR 238, OR 46, and the Rogue River Loop Highway, for a total of just over 134 miles (388 lane miles)1. Figure 3-1 shows the location of state highways in the County, as well as posted speeds on state highways. Where speeds are not posted, Oregon’s Basic Rule applies. The Basic Rule states that a motorist must drive at a speed that is reasonable and prudent at all times by considering other traffic, road, and weather conditions, dangers at intersections and any other conditions that affect safety and speed. The Basic Rule does not allow motorists to exceed posted speeds, nor does it set absolute speeds for all conditions. I-5 is a well-maintained, four-lane divided freeway classified as a principal arterial on the National Highway System, with a posted speed2 of 65 miles per hour through Josephine County. I-5 serves as the primary north and south through route for traffic traveling through the northeast quadrant of the County, which includes the bulk of the County’s populated area. The 1999 Oregon Highway Plan (the 1999 OHP) classifies I-5 as having interstate significance, and as a state Freight System Route. US 199 (Redwood Highway) has been designated as a highway of Statewide Significance in the 1999 OHP and also listed as a rural principal arterial in the National Highway System. This highway runs from the City of Grants Pass into northern California, connecting the I-5 corridor with US 101. It is the primary transportation corridor for the Illinois Valley area. Posted speeds in unincorporated Josephine County range from 45 mph to 55 mph. A portion of this highway (mileposts 0.35 to 6.92) has been designated as an expressway where the transportation function will be of primary importance and more restricted access management standards will be implemented. These could include limitations on new or existing intersections and/or driveway access, ultimately, reducing the number of intersections where all- way turning movements are allowed. OR 99 runs concurrent with I-5 until it reaches the City of Grants Pass, and is designated as a District Highway of Regional Significance in the 1999 OHP. In Grants Pass, OR 99 becomes a north/south one- way couplet through downtown, converting into a four-lane east/west highway after crossing the Rogue River. It continues along the south side of the river into Jackson County, rejoining I-5 east of the City of Rogue River. The posted speed on OR 99 in unincorporated Josephine County is 45 mph. OR 238 (Jacksonville Highway), a District Highway in the 1999 OHP, runs from the City of Grants Pass south and east along the Applegate River into Jackson County, where it intersects I-5 in the City of Medford. In Josephine County it has a posted speed ranging from 40 to 55 mph. OR 46 (Oregon Caves Highway) serves as the primary link for visitors to the Oregon Caves National Monument in south-central Josephine County and is classified as a District Highway in the 1999 OHP. The posted speed on OR 46 is 55 mph outside the Cave Junction UGB. Overlength truck/trailer combinations are not allowed on OR 46. Rogue River Loop Highway extends from southwest Grants Pass along the north side of the Rogue River (where it is also Lower River Road), crossing to the south side after about 10 miles at the Robertson Bridge, and returning along the south side of the river to a terminus at US 199 about six miles west of the City limits. Overlength truck/trailer combinations are not allowed on any part of the Rogue River Loop Highway, which is also a popular bicycling and recreation route. 1 ODOT Transportation Systems Monitoring web page, 2003. 2 Posted speeds per ODOT State Highway and County GIS data, 2003. Josephine County Rural TSP 3-2 Existing Conditions ¡ ¢ £¥¤ § ¨ § § ¦ ¦ § ¦ ¦ Another 21 miles of roadway owned and maintained by the State of Oregon run through state forest lands in the County. Nearly all of these roadways are unpaved, and about half are unimproved. The County’s one state park, Illinois River State Park, has about 1.1 miles of roadway, which are mostly paved. County-Maintained Roads within City UGBs Josephine County maintains all or segments of six roads within the Cave Junction UGB and about 160 roads within the Grants Pass UGB. These roadways are listed in Tables A-1 and A-2 of Appendix A of TSP Technical Memorandum #2: Existing Conditions (available for review in Josephine County Public Works or ODOT Region 3 offices). The lists of County-maintained roadways within the UGB of the two cities change periodically as areas are annexed, but maintenance responsibility is not transferred automatically with annexation. Josephine County has entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the City of Grants Pass whereby the City is responsible for all local collector and residential roadways within the city limits except for Beacon Drive. Local collector and residential roadways within the UGB but outside the city limits exchange jurisdiction with annexation. County Roadways on Federal Lands A good portion of the land within Josephine County is under the control of federal government agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Under Revised Statute 2477 (RS 2477), a federal statute enacted in 1866 to facilitate settlement of the West, Josephine County also has control over various unimproved and/or unpaved roadways and rights-of-way in federal lands. RS 2477 was repealed in 1976, stopping new right-of-way grants on federal lands, but courts have ruled that rights- of-way established prior to 1976 remain valid. No list of the RS 2477 roads in Josephine County is currently available. The County supports the original purpose and intent of the RS 2477 road system. Federal Roadways on Federal Lands within Josephine County In addition to roads on federal lands controlled by Josephine County under RS 2477, there are a few roadways on federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands in the county that play a role in the County’s overall transportation system, for recreation, wilderness access and also inter-community travel in the south County area. These roads are also shown in Figure 3-1 above (as the lighter gray colored roads). The following roads provide access to, through and within the area of the County in the western Siskiyou National Forest: • Bear Camp Road, a Forest Service roadway from Galice to Curry County that is often used as a route to the coast and as a recreation access to Agness; • Chrome Ridge Road, which connects to Galice; • Taylor Creek Road, which accesses a number of campgrounds west of the Merlin area; • Slate Creek Road; • Illinois River Road, which runs deep into the National Forest from Selma; • Fiddler Mountain Road and Eight Dollar Mountain Road, which link the Selma area to Curry County west of the National Forest; • Swede Mountain Road, extending into the National Forest from US 199 near Hayes Hill; and • Rough and Ready Road, which crosses the National Forest from O’Brien in the south County.