By Carleen Reilly
What do you know? We leave home for the weekend and hear the news in Eastern Oregon that our neighborhood had a dramatic lightning strike with an exploding tree on Park Ave. The Register-Guard article wasn’t the best reportage. I looked to find out what part of River Road (the street) the strike occurred on. Turns out, it wasn’t on the Road but in the River Road neighborhood. When I listened to the report from a neighbor who watched and filmed the strike, it was an eventful blast. I am glad it happened when everything was wet. On a hot summer day, nearby trees and homes could have been lit afire by the flying, burning branches.
River Road Corridor Events. I reported in the last RR CRG that there would be another Business Roundtable, but that is no longer on the agenda. As we get closer, I will try to share the various activities of the 2-day workshop. A Public Open House is still scheduled for June 3 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the 2nd and Chambers Fire Station.
Working Groups. The Neighborhood Planning working groups weren’t well attended last night, but those who were there delved the depths of policies, actions, and comments. This finer tuning will be needed to clarify, pare overlaps and redundancies, and sort out priorities. Neighbors’ generous comments are a sorting nightmare.
A couple of us worked on the transportation safety goal. One request was to develop a list of the highest priority transportation concerns. Here are my immediate thoughts, and I would like to know if you agree or have other high priority transportation concerns.
- Beltline, congestion at River Road and on the highway itself
- Building the local bridge between Santa Clara and Delta area (approximately at Division Ave. to Crescent Drive)
- Beaver-Hunsaker projects for safety of pedestrians and bicyclists and general traffic flow
- Increased LTD bus services, specifically EmX or Enhanced bus service and parallel safety improvements on the RR Corridor
- Moving the transit station to the Santa Clara site
- Safe intersections and routes to schools for children
- Relieving congestion around schools when school days commence and end
- Slowing traffic on neighborhood streets using various methods such as reducing speed limits, speed cushions, and increased traffic patrols
- Building out bike and pedestrian paths as outlined in the Eugene Transportation Plan and Lane County’s transportation plan along the river, through the neighborhoods, including bridges over Beltline from River Road to Santa Clara
- Addressing safety needs for seniors, children, and those with varying disabilities and impairments
Do these stack up for you as being high priority? What project or area have I missed? This type of list will help us sort among all the information as to where we need to focus our first energies and funding. Of course, as we think this through, we may reveal other major concerns that need immediate attention.
I will be representing River Road at a stakeholders’ meeting of the Beltline Facility on May 30. Our current representative, Michele O’Leary, will be on vacation during that time. I have heard a recent report at the Metropolitan Policy Committee, so I am reasonably up to date on this project.
Neighborhood Planning presentations. In the last week, presentations were made to the Eugene City Council and the Lane County Commissioners about our neighborhood planning work thus far, and the request was made to get the go ahead to begin action planning in ernest. The City Council voted 7 to 1 to conduct the action planning phase. The Commissioners voted unanimously for us to engage in action planning.
One quote from Santa Claran Kate Perle is worth repeating. “The only way to steer the ship is to get on board. There’s no remote control.” It’s truly up to us to provide the input and guidance of our planning project. Find an area of your concern or expertise where we can piece together our knowledge to build a vibrant community.
Calendar
- Monday & Tuesday, June 3 & 4, River Road Corridor Study Workshops. Fire station at 2nd & Chambers.
- Monday, June 3, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. River Road Corridor Study Open House. Fire station at 2nd and Chambers.
- Wednesday, June 5, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Making it Happen: Planning Project Fair. This includes our NP project. Eugene Public Library. https://www.eugene-or.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=19336
- Monday, June 10, 2019, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. River Road Community Organization General Membership meeting. Potential topics: Maxwell area, Beaver Hunsaker, and Beltline transportation updates. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
- Monday, June 17, 2019, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. River Road Community Organization Board meeting. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
- Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. CAC meeting. TBA.
- Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Party in the Park at Mauri Jacobs Park. More information as it is available.
- June 30, 2019. Final draft of goals, policies, and actions available.
- Friday, June 28, 2019, 7:00 to 9:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Bridges. Greenway Bridge (Mauri Jacobs Park). For commuters, path users, and new riders to grab a quick bite to eat, a cup of coffee, and get a bicycle safety check. Learn more about transportation options in Eugene and meet City staff.
- Tuesday, July 9, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Party in the Park at Arrowhead Park, Santa Clara. More info later.
- July 1 to August 29. Working Groups, CAC, and Individuals fine tuning of Final draft of goals, policies, and actions.
- September 2019. Next NP Community Event.
Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.
Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)
She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.