South Bank Detour
The South Bank Path closure is in full effect and new Detour signs have been added to make it clear to use the North Bank Path as an optional detour route. Later in October or November EWEB may finish their mitigation work and reopen the connector to 8th/Hilyard but the area near the new Riverfront development will remain closed so we will keep this detour up as recommended route to avoid that closure.
Alder Neighborhood Greenway
Eugene's first official "Neighborhood Greenway" is almost complete! A section of Alder Street was recently repaved (from 24th to 27th) as part of the Pavement Preservation Program and as part of that repaving the street was brought up to current standards for a Neighborhood Greenway (similar to the former "Bicycle Boulevard" style street). That improvement included speed humps, sharrows, a new traffic circle (and conversion from two-way stop to yield), curb ramp improvements, a marked crossing, and installation of our new Neighborhood Greenway signs.
Another improvement in this corridor is also nearing completion with the19th Avenue pavement preservation project. That will include new diversion for people in cars, restricting left turns onto 19th to reduce turning conflicts with people on the Alder Street two-way bikeway.
Amazon Corridor Project
The Amazon Active Transportation Corridor project is getting closer to being complete, but there are still a few minor pieces to finish before the project can wrap up. Those include railings for the bridge connections, concrete repairs, and some final inspections. The main pieces of the two-way bikeway and diagonal crossing are complete and working well. We have seen a lot more kids and families riding on the route and it's already proving very popular. Once the project is complete and people are familiar with the infrastructure changes we will do some "after" counts (likely in the Spring) and other evaluation pieces of the project.
Thanks to everyone for their patience as we work to install one of the biggest infrastructure changes in many years for this area.
13th Avenue: Campus to Downtown Connection
The 13th Avenue Bikeway project is officially out for bid! This project will feature a two-way protected bike lane on 13th Avenue from Alder Street to Lincoln Street, linking the University of Oregon campus to downtown Eugene. Protected bike lanes provide physical separation between the bikeway and travel lanes. To facilitate two-way traffic, signalized intersections will have bike-only signal phases to prevent turning conflicts between automobile drivers and people riding bicycles.
Construction is expected to begin in the Spring of 2020, with some initial tree work and removal happening this Fall.
Funding for this project is from multiple sources. Grant funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation is provided through the All Roads Transportation Safety (ARTS) Program. This program was developed to address safety needs on public roads and aligns with the city's Vision Zero policy. The project also includes regional funding through the Surface Transportation Program-Urban (STP-U). These funds are distributed through the the Central Lane Council of Governments.
In addition, David Minor's family has committed funding to the development of the bikeway. David Minor lost his life in a car-bike crash on 13th Avenue at Willamette Street in June 2008. The city will consider naming the project the "David Minor Bikeway" according to city procedures for naming infrastructure.
To learn more about the project and the process that created it visit the project website.