New bike bridge derails midway
By KEN HASWELL
Of the Emerald
Why is the Willie Knickerbocker Bike
Bridge standing almost completed
across the Willamette River at Judkins
Point, but still closed to both bicycle and
pedestrian traffic?
Because it is a case of building a
bridge before having a reason to cross a
river.
Now that the bridge is completed.
Lane County and City of Eugene engi
neers must come up with bike path
designs that will connect the bridge to
the existing bike path system on the
north side of the river. They must also
plan a new bike path, which will run from
the south side of the bridge to Franklin
Boulevard near the Black Angus res
taurant.
The idea for a bike bridge at Judkins
Point emerged about a year ago when
the Eugene Bicycle Committee was ap
proached by the Eugene Water and
Electric Board (EWEB) The board in
tended to place a 42-inch water main
either across the Willamette or under
neath it.
EWEB's engineers told the bicycle
committee that the difference between
putting the pipeline over the river or
underneath it amounted to nearly
$100,000 They then asked the commit
tee if it was interested in having another
bicycle bridge crossing the river
“It looked like too good an opportunity
to miss.” said Eugene Traffic Engineer
Jim Hanks ‘ So. we said yes, we'd sup
port it’ and we then amended our bicycle
master plan to include a bridge crossing
(at Judkins Point) because there wasn’t
one at the time and we felt like it was a
worthwhile purpose ’
Hanks added that the committee told
EWEB they didn't want to do any
Photo by Jtmmi Hams
The new Willie Knickerbocker Bike Bridge is not quite finished, but many area
residents are discovering its advantages — even if it means carrying their bikes.
thing until they were sure of the total
cost of the project and the availability of
funding
EWEB then agreed to accept bids for
construction of the pipeline in three
different ways: as a pipeline under the
riverbed, as a pipeline bridge across the
river and as a combination pipeline and
bicycle/pedestrian bridge The latter
was the most expensive: it cost about
$72,000 more than the other two options.
The bicycle committee then contacted
Lane County, Eugene and State of
Oregon traffic officials, who all agreed it
would be a worthwhile project to build
another bicycle bridge The County
Commissioners authorized $50,000, the
city authorized $12,000 and the state
authorized $10,000 toward the project
The total EWEB pipeline project cost
$1 25 million That amount includes a
45-inch diameter pipe on the north side
of the river and a pipe that splits in two. A
24-inch diameter pipeline heading
toward Glenwood and a 42-inch
diameter pipeline heading toward
Eugene on the south side of the river
The contact for the project was given to
Wildish Construction Co of Eugene
Hanks says one of the problems with
the new bicycle bridge is. "It doesn't
connect on both sides right now
"We felt that the opportunity for a
bridge at that location would never be
there again, so we decided to build the
bridge and to worry about the ap
proaches later,” he added.
Since the bridge is a joint venture
between the county, the city and the
state, responsibility for the approaches
to it are divided The county is respdnsi
ble for the north side of the river and the
city is responsible for the south side
approach
Keith Ellington of the County Trans
portation Department says the county
will start work on the north side approach
next week He says that it intends to
move the current bike path far enough
away from the bridge abutment as to
allow for a gradual sloping of the bridge
connector
George Price, director of Lane County
Public Works Department, estimates that
the construction of the north side
connector will take about six weeks
Diane Bishop of the Eugene Traffic
Engineers Office says the bridge was
"kind of an unscheduled event, so we
didn't have any of the designs for any of
the work to be done on the south side
We were kind of caught off-guard. "
She says the county decided not to do
a lot of work on the north side until the
city has a path on the south side But
Price disagrees with her, saying the
county has had other projects of more
importance to contend with
Dave Reinhard. supervisor of
Eugene s engineering division, says they
haven't any designs for the south side
connector and bike path yet, "but we are
hoping to get something underway by
the end of summer and constructed by
this fall."
He says his department tentatively
intends to build a pathway from the south
side of the bridge It will head south until
it reaches the old concrete intake of the
Millrace, which goes under the railroad
tracks He says there are four culverts
that were built there in the early 1940s
and have since been covered over with
concrete The engineers intend to con
vert these culverts into a bicycle under
pass to save the cost of building an
overpass
In order to reach the culverts, the city
must construct a small footbridge of
approximately 40 feet to cross over to the
south side of the Millrace intake
Once under the railroad tracks, the
bike path will run along the Millrace to
Franklin Boulevard
Future plans include a bike path
heading north to Springfield from the
Knickerbocker bridge
The Willie Knickerbocker Bike Bridge
is named after a Eugene citizen who was
known throughout the state for his bicy
cle antics He lived just outside of
Eugene on a 160-acre homestead and
died in a Eugene convalescent home in
1960 at the age of 92
a
Whitebird offers holistic ana legal a/o
By STEWART WRIGHT
Of the Emerald
The Whitebird Sociomedical
Aid Station is many things — a
crisis relief center, a heroin de
toxification center, a low cost
I
medical outpatient clinic, a legal
referral service and a coun
seling center
Sandy Alperm, the volunteer
coordinator of the center, says
that although the center
receives city and county reve
-“I
American Folk Song
Summer Term, 1979
MuE 199. Folksinging
3 Credits
MuE 199. Folk Song-Writing
3 Credits
MuE 199. Contemporary
American Folk Song:
Today’s Troubadors
3 Credits
For further ormation call Paul Halpern
(683-2697) or leave message with your
phone number at the School of Music
(686-3761). These classes are intended
primarily for non-music majors, but are
also open to majors. For complete course
descriptions see Summer Session Bulletin.
nue-sharing funds, private con
tributions and fees, it is usually
running at a loss There is a paid
staff of 20. including coun
selors, a physician and a natur
opathic doctor
The medical clinic charges on
a sliding scale according to in
come, as does the counseling
service
The naturopathic doctor
provides an alternative to con
ventional medical care He is
licensed by a college of natur
opathy and uses natural sub
stances, dietary and environ
mental methods to provide a
holistic approach to health
The clinic also has many alter
native practitioners coming and
going These include a
chiropracter. a licensed mas
sage therapist and a licensed
massage acupuncture ther
apist
The center also has a legal
referral service which refers
clients to a board of lawyers
_£nuj
Main Desk
What is available at
the EMU Main Desk?
(Main Floor, New Addition)
Sales Key making, key chains, candy, cameras, film,
supplies, paperback books, greeting cards, postcards, bicycle
chains, school supplies, magazines, padlocks.
Services Check cashing for University students, fa
culty, staff with proper I.D.
Theatre discount tickets
Film developing
Trading post ads
Greyhound bus tickets
Fast passes and bus tokens
Ode classified ads
Pay telephone & EWEB bills
Concert tickets
Shakespearean Festival tickets
who charge on a sliding scale
Once a week a lawyer is present
at the center to give legal ad
vice
The clients advocacy council
is involved in many projects,
including setting up a legal co
op and providing an arena
where past and present clients
can air their views. Alperin said
The center holds counseling
sessions weekly This is usually
done at a prearranged time and
the charge can run up to $15 per
session There is also a 24-hour
crisis intervention service,
which deals with everything
from drug overdosed to emo
tional problems
In addition to the paid staff
there is a volunteer staff of
about 50 All volunteers go
through an ei^ht-week orienta
tion session in which they learn
basic communication skills and
are introduced to the functions
of the center After the orienta
tion, the volunteers may work in
any section of the center they
wish Alperin says that volunteer
work at the station is good
training for medical profes
sions. paralegal work and
counseling
All decision-making at the
center is collective, incorporat
ing views of staff members,
volunteers and clients alike The
center is located at 341 E 12th
St.. 342-8255
1 cent
Sundae Sale
I Buy 1 at the regular price and get the I
second lor only 1 cent
Today Only
Campus Dairy Queen
13th & MLYARO