Tag: willamette

Bike Willamette Campaign Meeting Tonight

Posted on by RideCoordinator

Bike Willamette Campaign for full bicycle access on south Willamette St. — Meeting two is this happening tonight, Friday, Jan. 27 at 6:00-8:00 P.M. Come join those working to make this important corridor more accessible and safe for everyone.

Campaign general meeting two:
In this upcoming meeting we’ll review our goal and the grouping of our strategies and activities from last meeting. Then we’ll add whatever seems to be missing. As quickly as possible we’ll designate some logical categories and split into smaller action groups.

Where?
Agate Alley Laboratory Restaurant, 2645 Willamette St., on the east side. In the banquet/meeting room.
(If you’re hungry or thirsty you’ll be able to order food and drink.)

In the meantime:
Do you have something to contribute to the campaign’s list of strategies and actions? Would you like to clarify anything which you offered at the Jan. 13 meeting? Please send to: input@bikewillamette.com

Questions?
Call 541-954-3843 or email input@bikewillamette.com

Bike Willamette Campaign meeting one recap:
The Willamette Street Campaign for dedicated bicycle access rolled out to an astounding start on Jan. 13th. Fifty-five energized and creative people gathered with less than 24 hours notice! After a statement of the campaign goal and a brief recounting of recent planning activity involving south Willamette Street, we circled the room for self-introductions of participants.

The majority of the meeting time was spent generating strategies and actions that will lead to dedicated bike access. The over-seventy contributions were as varied as engaging with local businesses to regularly *practicing*/experiencing our *vision* of riding on South Willamette at 8AM on Saturdays.

Coming soon will be a draft compilation of strategies and actions sorted by categories. The categories could be the basis for establishing committees/work groups.

Willamette Street Bike Lanes Coming. Sharrows too?

Posted on by RideCoordinator

The City of Eugene is working on the repaving plans for Willamette St. including a section between 29th and 32nd. As many local riders know this is a major area of concern for cyclists and a missing link in our bike transportation infrastructure.  Originally there were no plans for bike infrastructure in the designs but after concerns raised by GEARs members and the Eugene Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) the city updated the striping plan for this section. A report was given at last weeks BPAC meeting. The BPAC made recommendations on those plans which called for Southbound bike lanes to start about 50 feet from the 29th & Willamette and Northbound bike lanes from 32nd to about 200 feet before the intersection of 29th & Willamette.   The BPAC felt that a major missing piece of the plan were sharrows where the bike lanes wouldn’t be leading all the way to the intersection.   Here is the letter they sent to staff requesting some changes to the project:

 

Dear Mr.Schoening,

I’d like to thank the City, and especially Rob Inerfeld, for working hard to incorporate changes that improve walking and cycling facilities on Willamette Street between 29th and 32nd. We truly appreciate the time and effort, particularly on this project with such an extremely short timeframe. After hearing the project update from Rob at our last BPAC meeting, the members ask that you consider the following recommendations:

As we all know, this is an area of real concern that has been identified by the community, and in multiple transportation plans. While we understand the limitations of time and funding for moving forward with this project, we must also recognize that many of the bicyclists on Willamette will not be using 31st to head east, but will want to access the intersection at 29th Ave. Their choices currently are to ride on the sidewalk or squeeze between auto traffic and the sidewalk in a lane too narrow to share – both unsafe options. Sharrows would help address these concerns by:

Include sharrows on Willamette Street between E. 29th Place to 29th Ave (northbound), and between 29th Ave. to where the bike lane starts (southbound). This is our most urgent request. The group feels most strongly about this recommendation.

Increase visibility and predictability of cyclists by directing them to the proper lane position. Reduce conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists. The roadway is the best place for bicyclists on this stretch of Willamette and sharrows demonstrate this.
Reduce the safety hazard for motorists (cyclists on the sidewalk are less visible and less predictable)
Alert motor vehicle drivers to the presence of bicyclists.

Make 31st Avenue the preferred route from Willamette Street to the Amazon Path

By encouraging bike traffic to use 31st instead of the easement through the Hawthorne Apartments, we believe that impacts to Shelter Care residents can be minimized, and we feel this provides a better connection to the Amazon Path.
Add sharrows to 31st Ave. (with the benefits described above).
Add wayfinding signs at 31st Avenue to direct cyclists east.


Increase signage at Hawthorne Apartments

We understand that cyclists will continue to use this easement, and recommend that the City install additional signage to reduce conflicts with residents.
Add a way-finding sign at Pearl for northbound bike traffic, for better access to the Southtown Shopping area.
Thank-you for your commitment to improving facilities for all roadway users and including those choosing active transportation. We believe that these improvements will go a long way to improve a missing link in our transportation system.

Sincerely, Holly McRae, BPAC Chair

 

Action Alert- Write Councilors Regarding Willamette Bike Facilities

Posted on by RideCoordinator
TransPlan Map showing Willamette Bike Infrastructure Priority

GEARs Members,

We recently learned that there is going to be a re-paving project on Willamette Street from 29th Avenue to 32nd Avenue and that the city “left out” plans to add bicycle facilities.  This runs contrary to the city’s own policy of adding bike facilities to road reconstruction projects, especially those called out in TransPlan.  While this is a serious error, especially given the fact that the Willamette and 29th area was highlighted at the last Advocacy Committee meeting as a top problem spot for biking, it is not irreversible.

The current project the city is repaving is 29th to 46th. We would like to ask the City to pull the section from 29th to 32nd off the table for repaving this year until the right measures can be taken to facilitate including bicycle facilities on this section of roadway.

We are asking you to write your city councilor (click here to find out who your councilor is) to put pressure on the Public Works Department to correct this problem before the pavement is laid and the paint dries.

Below is an example letter:

—–

Dear [Councilor’s name],

I am writing to express my concern about an upcoming road project on Willamette, from 29th to 32nd Avenues.  This major commercial and residential area is in urgent need of bicycle facilities, and as part of TransPlan it has been identified to include those facilities. Unfortunately this was missed by staff.  This  violation of the city’s own policy needs to be addressed.

We are asking that this section of the project be pulled out of the current scope of work until the proper work can be done to install the required bicycle facilities.  Please talk to Public Works staff to make sure that this oversight is corrected before new pavement is laid and the paint dries on restriping.

Sincerely,

[Your name

Your address]