What’s With All the Construction?
Published by the Daily Emerald in 2023
Traffic delays, detoured routes and ongoing construction initiatives in Downtown Eugene are part of an effort to enhance accessibility for city commuters.
The 8th Avenue Streetscape Project is a major construction initiative underway by the city. The project involves repaving 8th Avenue from Lincoln to Mill Street, as outlined in the 2017 Pavement Bond that was approved by Eugene voters during the 2017 Special Election. This bond dedicates $51.2 million to street preservation, bicycle and pedestrian projects across the city.
The city plans on converting 8th Avenue into a two-way street in an effort to enhance traffic flow through the Downtown area. This transformation will also introduce four-way signalized intersections at Willamette, Olive and Lincoln Streets, complete with signals for bike lanes.
The same stretch of 8th Avenue will be getting a new protected bike lane, as will the west side of High Street from 19th to 6th Avenue. Currently these stretches of road have bike lanes, but they are left exposed to traffic, offering no protection to riders.
According to Rachael Love, a civil engineer for the city of Eugene and a project manager for the 8th Avenue Streetscape Project, the bulk of this construction is to improve transportation access for everyone to downtown. “8th Avenue is kind of a vision to connect all users in both directions for travel from downtown to [the] Willamette River,” she said.
How will this project impact students' ability to commute across the city, both during and after construction? Sean Kane, a UO student, shared his frustrations with the construction affecting his job as a bike delivery courier for the delivery service Handle. “Streets being blocked off due to new developments is something I struggle to navigate around when I have a set time to arrive at each delivery destination,” Kane said.
Love said that the city wants to let students and community members know that “we’re encouraging people to use Broadway Street and 6th or 7th Avenue if possible,” so as to avoid construction on 8th Avenue for all forms of transportation. Community members can expect a break from construction this winter, as the city is hoping to finish construction on 8th Avenue from West Park to Mill Street by the end of the year. “Next year, probably early spring, we’ll start from West Park Street down to Lincoln Street,” Love said.
After the planned construction is concluded, there will be some changes that may further impact how people travel through the city. “To convert the street to two-way traffic and add protective bike lanes on both sides, we did remove parking along the south side of 8th Avenue for the whole corridor,” Love explained.
On-street parking will remain on the north side of the Avenue but, “it’ll be separated from the sidewalk. So, we’ll have a sidewalk, bike lane and then parking along the north side,” Love said. This will create an extra buffer for riders from vehicles and improve the safety of bike travel through downtown.
Rob Inerfeld, the city of Eugene’s transportation manager, said that the 8th Avenue Streetscape Project as well as upcoming construction initiatives in Eugene –– including the Franklin Boulevard Transformation starting construction in 2026 –– align with the city’s overall goal to promote active transportation. “Students can expect upcoming projects to enhance shared mobility along many streets,” Kane said.
The city of Eugene’s website outlines a goal of enhancing the city’s community, livability and independence through improving transportation across all sectors.