City, LTD approve MovingAhead plans

by Patrick S. Walsh

The MovingAhead project has reached a significant milestone. At its Board Meeting on March 16, the Lane Transit District Board of Directors approved the Locally Preferred Alternatives for five key corridors – and mirrors the approval by the Eugene City Council earlier in the week.

• Highway 99 – Enhanced Corridor
• River Road – EmX
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard via downtown – Enhanced Corridor
• Coburg Road – Enhanced Corridor (Requires additional study and community engagement)
• 30th Avenue to Lane Community College (LCC) via downtown – No Build

“MovingAhead offers a view to how LTD and the City of Eugene are working together to connect our community in the future,” said Caitlin Vargas, president of the LTD Board of Directors. “After extensive study and community discussions, there is a tentative plan to improve transportation and increase safety along each corridor that also reflects LTD’s and the City’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions.”

“I am excited that the City is poised for the next generation of work on our major corridors,” said Mayor Lucy Vinis, City of Eugene. “The Moving Ahead framework prioritizes safety, equity, the role of transit, and the need to meet our climate and housing goals by envisioning a city where more people are able to travel easily by bus, bike, and on foot. This planning framework will enable Eugene to grow thoughtfully and carefully to benefit everyone who lives, works and plays here.”

With both the City of Eugene and LTD confirming the preferred alternatives, staff will work on refining the designs for the project, which includes more community engagement, so that staff can continue to work towards implementing investments along these important streets.

“This is the culmination of a lot of research and work, both from our agencies and the community,” said Andrew Martin, a MovingAhead project manager with LTD. “Through years of conversations with the community, we know these are investments many people value. We’re looking forward to getting closer to implementation.”

“This is an exciting step for our community and a big milestone in ultimately making many of our busiest streets safer and more accessible,” said Rob Inerfeld, a MovingAhead project manager with the City of Eugene. “By investing in these improvements, we will be making our community better for decades to come.”

The City and LTD will develop a plan for funding and timing investments, with the goal of using local dollars to leverage state and federal funding.

The Eugene City Council and LTD Board of Directors held a joint work session on February 28, 2022. Staff shared details about the alternatives and public engagement to date, which has included more than 20 open houses/workshops, emails to more than 1,000 accounts, 60 presentations/community events, 46,000 mailings and canvassed 500 properties along the corridors.

For more information about MovingAhead or to review the project materials, please visit www.movingahead.org or call 541-682-3240.

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About MovingAhead: MovingAhead began in 2015 as a partnership between the City of Eugene, Lane Transit District (LTD), regional agencies, and the Eugene-Springfield community. The purpose of the project is to determine what transportation investments are needed on some of our most important streets. This list of prioritized investments will become a powerful tool for implementing local and regional land use, transportation, and community plans.