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MEDFORD, Ore. — The Medford City Council voted on Thursday to return Main Street, which was restriped in October 2023, to its previous configuration, at an estimated cost of $1 Million, almost double the original price.
Medford Main Street Restriping: Old Configuration Returns
More than 90% funded through an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) grant, the controversial current Main Street restriping was implemented in October 2023 to improve bicycle access and cost approximately $515,000.
Tidings Data Snapshot
Main Street restriping: cost and safety factsSource: City of Medford Main Street Multimodal Improvements page and Jan 22 2026 council vote release, FHWA Road Diet Informational GuideDailyTidings.com
In March 2025, the Council considered multiple alternatives. It commissioned further engineering and analysis before narrowing the choices to four design options in 2025.
Before finalizing the design, the Medford City Council sought public input on the redesign of the Main Street bike lane. It launched a public outreach effort in November 2025, including an in-person open house and an online survey.
For the Main Street open house and online survey, community members were asked to rank four design options identified during a July 2025 study session:
- Revert Main Street to its previous configuration
- Keep the current layout as is
- Standard bike lane (one-way bike lane on the right)
- Two-way travel with bike lanes
Reverting the street to its previous configuration ranked highest in both in-person and online surveys. Keeping the current configuration was the second-highest option.
Following months of evaluation and a public outreach campaign, the Council had a lengthy discussion that centered on restriping the street with two travel lanes and a bike lane versus reverting the striping to its previous three-lane configuration.
Ultimately, the resolution to revert to the previous design passed in a split vote, with Mayor Michael Zarosinski casting the tie-breaking vote.
The “new” layout will include three travel lanes in one direction, with bikes sharing the right lane, and curb-tight parking on both sides.
The project is estimated to cost $1 million, including repayment of an ODOT grant. The City indicated that, on an accelerated timeline, the final restriping plan will be completed by spring 2026, and the project is expected to be finished by fall 2026.
Why do we keep needlessly trying to appease The Spandex Mafia? This same B.S. happened in Klamath Falls. Virtually no one uses these stupid lanes. The bikes are still out in traffic with the vehicles or on the sidewalk. Can we just stop wasting our money on the bikers who are clearly going to go wherever they want and focus on making pedestrian sidewalks and crossings safer and more accessible?
What kind of a traffic study precipitated this stupid bike lanes idea in the first place? Any observer could plainly see that these bike lanes were rarely used if at all. Medford removed some Traffic signals on Main Street also making the cross traffic more dangerous because the cars parked in the middle of Main Street made it very difficult to see the traffic coming.