Rogue Valley Expressway opens next week

April 26, 2019                                                                                               R3-11-19

For more information, contact Gary Leaming (Gary.W.Leaming@odot.state.or.us), 541-774-6388

MEDFORD – After nearly three years of construction, the Rogue Valley Expressway will soon open.

Striping and signing contractors are completing their work on the expressway over the next several days and nights.

Signal turn-on and final sign installation is scheduled for late Tuesday night.

Once open, possibly as early as Wednesday morning, it will complete nearly three years of construction and 15 years of planning on a project designed to improve safety and congestion.

For through-motorists – about 30 percent of the traffic on Oregon 62 - the 4.5 mile long expressway will mean a savings of about five minutes in travel time. The speed limit is 55 MPH.

We’re reminding motorists to use caution at the new traffic control intersections, both at the north end of the expressway with the new signal south of White City and the new south-end merge points.

Knife River Materials of Central Point constructed the facility. The final design was developed with the help of a local citizens.

The four-lane, $120 million expressway begins east of I-5 Exit 30 and diverges from Crater Lake Highway southeast of the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport. The expressway spans Coker Butte and Vilas Roads, and connects at a signalized intersection south of White City.

$100 million of the project was funded the 2009 Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act.

Photos and video are available at the project website: RogueValleyExpressway.

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 Media Partners: For live shots, including opening morning, please do not park off the expressway. There are good visual backdrops off Oregon 62 near Skypark Drive and in the area near Texas Roadhouse.