We haven’t reposted the City of Eugene’s InMotion Newsletter in awhile. It’s a great resource and if you’re not subscribed to it you should be!
Eugene Sunday Streets Brought Thousands to Downtown!Eugene Sunday Streets Downtown successfully brought thousands of people to downtown Eugene on July 21st to experience active transportation and activities that contribute to healthy lifestyles. The second Sunday Streets event this summer will be held on September 8th in the Bethel neighborhood. We are currently recruiting volunteers for the September 8 event! You can sign up to volunteer atwww.eugene-or.gov/essvolunteer.
Sunday Streets Downtown partnered with dark30 sports to bring fast-paced running and bicycle races, the TrackTown City Center Mile and Rolf Prima Downtown Criterium, to the streets of downtown. The winner of the elite mile came in at 4:05, which is incredibly fast for a mile race run on city streets with several corners along the route. The excitement from the morning races continued to build throughout the day as people came to Downtown Eugene to experience active transportation along the three-mile car-free Sunday Streets route by foot, bicycle, roller blade, wheelchair, scooter, and more. Many stopped at Monroe Park and Kesey Square to listen to live music and participate in many activities, including free yoga classes, slack lining, a Slip-N-Slide and the bike expo. There were over 50 activity booths and food cart vendors for people to choose from. Local bicycle businesses that participated in the event were kept busy all day answering questions about bicycles and providing the opportunity to test ride fold-able bikes, cargo bikes, balance bikes, and even bikes that will be used in the University of Oregon’s upcoming bike share system this fall. The City of Eugene Police registered 76 bicycles in an effort to reduce bicycle theft rates. Many businesses along the route benefited from the increased foot and bicycle traffic. One business said, “our business went up about 25% and we had to double our staff for the day” to accommodate the new customers stopping by. Residents in the area who attended the event also appreciated seeing more people visiting our city center. Eugene Sunday Streets Bethel, on September 8th, will continue to build off of the excitement and energy from Sunday Streets Downtown. For more information about Eugene Sunday Streets or to sign up to volunteer, please visit eugenesundaystreets.org. Volunteers receive newly designed Eugene Sunday Streets t-shirts and are entered into a drawing for valuable prizes, including Sweet Life gift cards and a Burley Bee bike trailer!
Smarttrips Eugene is Back for its Third Year!
Saturday August 10, 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Eugene Walk There: Bowling at Strike City. Meet at Petersen Barn Community Center 870 Berntzen Rd. We will meet at Petersen Barn and walk over to Strike City Lanes. Participants will get to enjoy one free game of bowling! This walk is approximately 15 minutes each way. Thursday August 15, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Community Event: Family Fun Night at Petersen Barn Community Center, 870 Berntzen Rd. Join us at Petersen Barn’s Family Fun Night for free food, fun raffle prizes and a helmet decorating contest. Sunday August 18, 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Learn: Bike Maintenance Clinic at Petersen Barn Community Center, 870 Berntzen Rd. Learn how to maintain your bike from a friendly local mechanic. Our local bike instructor will teach basic bike maintenance skills from 1:00-2:00 p.m. and advanced skills from 2:15-3:30 p.m. All you need to bring is your bike and a yearning for learning! Tuesday August 20, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Learn: Bike Rodeo for Kids at Petersen Barn Community Center, 870 Berntzen Rd. Come down to Petersen Barn to get a free bicycle helmet for your kiddos and test their bicycle traffic skills at the smarttrips Bike Rodeo! Free sack lunch will be provided by Food for Lane County. Friday August 23, Bike Maintenance class starts at 7:30, movie begins after dark Community Event: Summer in the City presents Hotel Transylvania en Espanol at Petersen Barn Community Center, 870 Berntzen Rd. Walk or bike down to Petersen Barn for an outdoor screening of Hotel Transylvania en Espanol. Smarttrips staff will teach a bike maintenance class en Español before the movie. Sunday August 25, 4:00 p.m. Pre-registration required Eugene By Cycle: Ride to the Ems Game. Meet at Petersen Barn Community Center, 870 Berntzen Rd. We will ride from Petersen Barn to PK Park. This ride includes tickets to the game, dinner and more. Kids under the age of 16 MUST wear helmets as per state law. Call Moorea Strueby at 541-501-0390 to register. This ride is about 45 minutes long each way. Friday August 30, 7:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Community Event: Breakfast at the Bridges at the Fern Ridge Path (near Bike Friday) Free coffee, bagels, bike bells and bike maintenance checks! Come celebrate walking and biking and summer in Eugene. For more information about smarttrips:eugene visitwww.smarttripseugene.com
Mural Bike Tour The Lane Arts Council, Last Friday Art Walk, and local mural advocates have teamed up to coordinate a Mural Bike Tour in Eugene! The bike tour will feature some of the wonderful murals of the Whiteaker neighborhood, and then curve through downtown Eugene. The 2-hour tour begins at 10am on Saturday, August 17th at Kari Johnson’s “Oak Savannah,” a mural featuring a hawk and tree, across the street from Ninkasi Brewing, near 3rd and Van Buren. Bob Passaro will lead the tour and interview mural artists along the way, including Jim Evangelista, Hans d’Hollosy, Dan Hitchcock, Ron Lafond, and Kari Johnson. Bob Passaro has been blogging about bicycle culture in Eugene for three years, at eugenebicyclist.com and currently serves on the City of Eugene’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee. He is now a writer and editor at CAWOOD, a marketing and public relations agency in Eugene. The Mural Bike Tour is sponsored by Arriving By Bike and Cornucopia. Information about the Mural Bike Tour is available at www.lanearts.org. FREE EVENT!
Congressman DeFazio Visits Breakfast at the Bike Bridge The monthly Breakfast at the Bike Bridges event held on Friday, July 26th attracted over 170 participants, including Congressman DeFazio himself. The event was held at the DeFazio Bike Bridge and showed appreciation for people who walk and bike by providing free breakfast, coffee, bike bells, bicycle tune-ups, and more to passersby.
Local residents enjoyed conversing with Congressman DeFazio during the beautiful, sunny Friday morning along the river. Patrick Deegan and his family had their photo taken with the Congressman, local bicycle advocates spoke with him about potential policy changes, one individual let him test ride her bicycle, and everyone had a great time. For more information about upcoming Breakfast at the Bike Bridges events, please visit http://www.eugene-or.gov/bbb.
Eugene’s Riverbank Bike Path System Listed in USA Today’s Best Urban Bike Paths Mayor Piercy was delighted to hear that Eugene’s riverfront bike path system has received another national accolade, this time listed among USA Today’s top urban bike paths in the U.S. Eugene was listed #10 of 19 noted. www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2013/07/23/best-urban-bike-paths-across-the-usa “Our Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System along the Willamette River is one of the treasured jewels of this community, and one of the many reasons people love to live, work and visit here,” said Mayor Piercy. “It’s always great to have our city’s excellent livability recognized and acknowledged nationally. We are thrilled with this rave review from USA Today.” The Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System is one of the best-known, well-used and much-loved portions of Eugene’s parks and open space system. Eugene’s growing bicycle network includes: 42 miles of shared-use paths; 81 miles of on-street bicycle lanes; 35 miles of signed bikeways; 5 bicycle/pedestrian bridges spanning the Willamette River, and; 2 bicycle/pedestrian bridges spanning major roads or highways. Eugene has received numerous other awards for its bicycling program, including Bicycling Magazine’s ranking of # 5 Best City for Biking, and a Gold-level rating from the League of American Bicyclists in their Bike Friendly Communities Program. Encouraging bike-riding for recreation and transportation helps address many of Eugene’s long-term goals including those for supporting healthy lifestyles, enhancing livability to make Eugene attractive for business development, and reducing energy consumption and pollution, to name a few.
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This summer smarttrips eugene is back, offering residents in the East Bethel neighborhood FREE transportation tools. Residents in the East Bethel neighborhood can order FREE transportation tool kits that have information on how to get around by walking, biking, using the bus, carpooling and much more! Our free walking and biking kits come with a pedometer or pant leg strap, a special neighborhood walking and biking map, and a schedule of guided walks or rides that highlight areas of interest in the East Bethel neighborhood! You can place an o
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The Enterprise CarShare vehicle formerly located at 17th & Patterson Street has been relocated to Villard Street at East 15th Avenue, across from the Matthew Knight Arena. This car will be better positioned to conveniently serve the residents of the East University neighborhood from this location.
| CONSTRUCTION UPDATES5th Avenue (Blair Blvd. to High St.): 5th Avenue between Oak Street and Pearl Street is scheduled to be completed and paved this week. All businesses are open and accessible by sidewalks and the intersections of Willamette and Pearl are open to north-south travel.10th Avenue (Washington St. to Lincoln St.): Excavation and construction starts midweek, closing the street to westbound traffic. Watch for trucks entering and exiting the work zone.
18th Avenue (East side of Jackson St. to west side of Friendly St.): Closed while new concrete surface is curing. This section is anticipated to be opened August 5. 18th Avenue (East side of Madison St to Washington St): This section will be closed beginning August 3 for reconstruction, including the intersection of 18th and Jefferson, for approximately one week. Through traffic traveling east-west should use 11th Ave/13th Ave, 24th Ave or 28th Ave. Through traffic traveling north-south should use Chambers St, Polk St or Willamette. Please use caution and observe the speed limit if using neighborhood streets as an alternate route. 18th Avenue (West side of Tyler St. to east side of Jackson St.): This section will be closed beginning August 10 for reconstruction for approximately one week. Through traffic traveling east-west should use 11th Ave/13th Ave, 24th Ave or 28th Ave. Please use caution and observe the speed limit if using neighborhood streets as an alternate route. Airport (Parking lot and covered walkway): A portion of the long term parking lot is currently barricaded and travelers should not park in areas closed for construction. Alder Street (18th Ave. to 24th Ave.): Reconstruction of sidewalk access ramps continues. Ramps at the northwest portion of street intersections are scheduled to be worked on. Curb and gutter repairs will also occur at various locations along Alder. Barger Drive (Terry St. to West Irwin St.): In order to construct a new wastewater line in Barger Drive, this section will be closed to all traffic, 24 hours a day, from August 5 to August 16. Barger Drive (Highway 99 N. to N. Terry St.): Crews will be crack sealing in this location. Expect minor delays and lane closures at times. Flaggers will be onsite. Blair Boulevard (2nd Ave. to Monroe St.): Blair from5th Avenue to 6th Avenue is scheduled to be closed and reconstructed this week. Sidewalk and pedestrian access will be available to all residents and businesses during construction. Broadway (Monroe St. to Jefferson St.): Closed for construction this week. Watch for trucks entering and exiting the work zone. Coburg Road (Chad Dr. to County Farm Rd.): Reconstruction of sidewalk walk ramps continues this week followed by the first of two phases to reconstruct the Chad Drive intersection beginning Friday Aug 9. From 6pm Friday to 9am Monday, no turns on or off Chad Drive will be allowed. One lane in each direction on Coburg Road and business driveways on Coburg Road will be open during construction. For alternative access to Chad Drive, use Game Farm Road on the east end or Crescent Avenue to Shadow View. Colton Way (Avalon St. to Austin Way): Crews will be crack sealing in this location. Expect minor delays and lane closures at times. Flaggers will be onsite. Elmira Road (and several other streets in the area): Slurry seal work is scheduled to take place in the area from August 5 through August 8. Expect closures and delays. Stay off slurry and fog seal areas until opened to traffic. Hilyard Street (Broadway to 13th Ave.): Traffic will be restricted as a result of pavement repairs near 11th Avenue. Expect delays. Irvington Drive and Willowbrook neighborhood (Lancaster to Hyacinth): Storm water utility improvements continue. Streets will be open to traffic most of the time with occasional construction equipment on Willowbrook. Residents will have access to their driveways but should expect delays. Olive Street (11th Ave. to 10th Ave.): Excavation and concrete paving continues, causing multiple lane closures and detours. The block will be closed to through traffic. Access to Kiva Grocery and the alley behind the Eugene Library will continue to be available. Olive Street (between 12th Avenue and 13th Avenue): Street and sidewalks are closed due to apartment building construction. More information can be found at www.eugene-or.gov/CapstoneClosures. Sorrel Way (Roan Dr. to Rustic Place): Rehabilitation of the wastewater system begins Monday at 7:00 a.m. and will continue through August 9. Watch for workers in the roadway, large trucks, lane changes and flaggers. Van Buren Street (Blair Blvd. to 3rd Ave.): Final lift paving is completed on Van Buren Street. Manholes are being adjusted currently. The last major item of work is permanent striping which is yet to be scheduled. Eugene City Parks (Hendricks, Skinner Butte, Alton Baker/Day Island): Slurry Seal and fog seal work in Hendricks, Skinner Butte and Alton Baker/Day Island parks will take place on August 8 and 9. Expect closures and delays. Stay off slurry and fog seal areas until opened to traffic. |
