Highway 126 on drawing board.

Byline: Jack Moran The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Got a pencil and an idea or two about improving Highway 126 at 42nd, 52nd and Main streets?

If so, state transportation officials want to see you next week at a public workshop where talk will focus on design options for the state-owned expressway's three easternmost intersections and interchanges. The corridor - built in the 1960s - cuts through Springfield from Interstate 5 to the eastern end of Main Street.

Several designs already have been drawn up by the pros, but officials say the best improvement plan of all could come from a local who regularly travels the route in rush hour.

"Everyone's got ideas, and sometimes great ideas come from the most unusual places," said Tom Boyatt, a planner with the state Department of Transportation.

"What we're hoping is that people will come to the workshop with their pencils sharp, ready to show us what they think needs to happen."

Members of the public should feel free to sketch their own designs on maps provided at the workshop. The ideas will be considered as officials piece together a management plan for the expressway, where traffic is expected to rise significantly in the next 20 years. Severe congestion will occur without major improvements, Boyatt said.

"There is a lot of growth potential" in Springfield and in the Jasper-Natron area in the city's southeast corner, Boyatt said. "We just want to be able to build the best highway we can to accommodate those future needs."

But the project's cost and time line are issues that won't be decided anytime soon.

"It takes a heck of a long time to obtain funding for road improvements," said Nick Arnis, transportation manager for the city of Springfield. "The sooner you start the planning, the better off you're going to be."

City staff members are working closely with ODOT officials during development of the expressway management plan. Officials eventually will design updates to interchanges at Pioneer Parkway and Mohawk Boulevard, but first will focus on changes to the 42nd Street interchange and signalized intersections at 52nd and Main streets.

After a preferred design is established for the entire corridor, the management plan will be adopted by the Oregon Transportation Commission, which sets policy for ODOT, and placed on a priority list where it will compete for funding against projects from throughout Oregon.

But that's still a ways down the road. For now, people interested in the project should involve themselves in the process, Boyatt said. "The projects that get funded are the ones with the most support," he said.

HIGHWAY 126 PLAN

What: A public workshop to discuss design options for intersections on the eastern portion of the expressway that runs through Springfield from Interstate 5 to the east end of Main Street

When: Nov. 17, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Thurston High School, 333 N. 58th St., Springfield