Effective today, July 16, the section of East Broadway between Willamette and Olive streets will be closed to motor vehicle traffic to enable expanded café seating for area bars and restaurants. People walking or using non-motorized vehicles like bicycles, skateboards or roller skates are encouraged to use the travel lanes for through travel and business access. Following today’s soft launch of the Broadway Streatery, additional café seating, music, lights and more will be coming over the course of the next couple weeks.
The Broadway Streatery is a temporary measure to support business activity, safe social gathering and community recovery in response to COVID-19. The initiative will be evaluated on an ongoing basis to determine whether it is having a positive impact for downtown Eugene and our community as whole. If it is successful, the Broadway Streatery will remain open until at least October 31, 2020.
The City of Eugene is working directly with the business owners on this section of Broadway, who are all supportive of this arrangement. Closing the street to motor vehicles will allow businesses that serve food and beverage to expand their square footage into the right-of-way (sidewalks and parking spaces), allowing for safe physical distancing between customers in an outdoor environment. Physical distancing and proper hand hygiene are strongly encouraged and face coverings are required if 6-feet of distance cannot be maintained. Each business on this section of Broadway will receive 480 KN95 masks to hand out to patrons, part of the 26,000 masks the City has received from Business Oregon to support businesses reopening.
Emergency vehicle access to this block and surrounding areas will be maintained by using “soft” barriers to close the street to motor vehicle traffic, which emergency vehicles will be able to drive over.
Service alleys in the area will remain accessible from 10th Avenue and 8th Avenue. Thus, deliveries should not be negatively impacted. Take-out customers will need to park on adjacent blocks and walk to pick up to-go orders.
The City of Eugene is committed to working with our community to safely reopen and support local economic development and community recovery. Contact Eric Brown with questions about this project or ideas about what else we can be doing to support our downtown.
Learn More
Read about the City’s Streatery Program and how to apply for a temporary permit to allows café seating in the public right-of-way.