Released by: City of Eugene Public Works
EUGENE, Ore. — Construction on River Road from the south side of the Beltline interchange to Green Lane will begin the week of Aug. 10. Along with paving, this project will also upgrade sidewalk access ramps and improve the safety of pedestrian signals and bus stops.
Most construction activities will occur at night, between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. No lane closures are planned to take place outside of the nighttime work window. Please slow down, stay alert and be patient when moving through the work zone. Use extra care when traveling at night as crews and traffic control devices may be in the road.
The City is also partnering with Lane Transit District to redesign and reconstruct two LTD bus stops and associated bike lanes as part of this project. The two affected stops are between Santa Clara Avenue and Green Lane.
The new floating bus stop design will reduce conflicts between bus drivers, people driving, and people biking. Currently, at the northbound Santa Clara Square Shopping Center stop, the LTD bus pulls halfway out of the travel lane when picking up and dropping off riders. This blocks both the bike lane and half of the travel lane, resulting in confusion and unsafe behaviors for people driving and biking, and delays for the bus when merging back into the travel lane. At the southbound stop by Santa Clara Animal Hospital, the bus pulls out of the travel lane completely, which makes it difficult to merge back into the travel lane. This also means the bus crosses the bike lane to access the stop.
“We can simultaneously improve safety for everyone and travel times for people using the bus with this simple bus stop redesign” said Will Carter, the project’s designer at the City of Eugene.
Floating bus stops allow the bus to stop fully in the travel lane, with the bike lane routing behind the bus platform. People driving can stop behind the bus or safely merge into the left travel lane. Bike riders can remain safely in the bike lane and will not need to merge into traffic. People biking will be required to yield to riders exiting or entering the bus.
“Floating bus stops are an important tool for improving safety for all roadway users, while also providing significant operational improvements that result in travel time and cost savings for LTD. We’re excited to apply this design to one of our frequent transit network corridors” said Dave Roth, director of Mobility Planning and Policy for Lane Transit District.
CONTACTS: Marion Suitor, City of Eugene Public Works public affairs manager, msuitor@eugene-or.gov, 541-731-0126