Eugene Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan
Eugene ’s 2 nd Walking and Biking Summit : A ‘Call to Action’ Answered
On a cold, rainy Saturday morning cyclists and pedestrians came together in solidarity to work to make Eugene a better place to walk, bike and live. Over 140 participants braved the elements with a majority of them biking or walking to the event. The bike parking outside was quickly overwhelmed and the back of the South Eugene High School Cafeteria became the site of overflow bike parking and the benches along the wall became a drying rack for the participant’s wet rain gear. It was an awesome sight!
As participants rolled in on that early Saturday morning they greeted each other warmly and chatted while sipping coffee and munching on bagels and delicious Organic Nancy’s cream cheese that was kindly donated by the Springfield Creamery. They mingled about and took in over ten different booths from the community. One booth that garnered lots of positive feedback was the Delta Ponds Ped and Bike Bridge project. Thanks to all volunteers who came and staffed booths at the event!
Mayor Kitty Piercy kicked off the summit praising our current facilities but challenging us a community to always demand better and to “strive for gold”. She reiterated how important, yet simple, walking and biking is in combating congestion and pollution. Mayor Piercy also pledged her support, and urged others to join her, in aiding the implementation of the new Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan released at the Summit and available through a link on the right side of this screen.
Matt Peterson, a graduate student at University of Oregon, spoke second at the Summit and reminded the participants that “today is not about what the City can do for walking and biking in Eugene; it is about what we, the community, can do, whether that means we as students, we as people who live in Eugene, or even we as businesses and community groups.” A Call to Action seemed to be the theme of the day. The whole Summit was centered on getting the community involved in the implementation of the new Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan and IT WORKED!
The 140 participants all rolled up their sleeves and got to work on three high priority action items in the plan:
- Developing a Share the Road plan for the community of Eugene .
- Getting more kids to walk and bike to school and to be active.
- Developing a Signature Walking and Biking Event for Eugene .
Many participants also signed up to help with particular action items and a few others even joined new walking and biking groups.
The event was a great success and a whole lot of fun! You were called to action and you answered by showing up and participating in our community. Thank you all for coming and if you couldn’t make it please check out the Plan on the website listed above and see how you can get involved. We need everyone to work together to make Eugene reflect the vision in the Strategic Plan:
“Eugene is a place where walking and Biking are integral to the community’s culture, where the city’s livability, sustainability and overall quality of life are enhanced by more people walking and biking and where these activities are safe, convenient and practical options for everyone.”
For information on how to get involved, contact Lindsay Selser or call 682-5291. To assist with implementation of the strategic plan, the City is forming a new Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee or BPAC for short. We need a few good volunteers to sign up using the application on the right side of the screen.
