Bridge
Continued from Page 1
Niles said he feels the bridge
downplays the importance of bi
cycles as transportation.
"Separating bikes and autos is
not in the best interest of cycling
because it doesn’t treat bikes as ve
hicles,” he said.
But there can be many benefits
for people anytime access for bicy
cles and pedestrians is increased
in this way, he said.
The idea for a pedestrian bridge
came about through a meeting of
the Citizens Advisory Committee
in 1994. The committee voted
against adding new travel lanes to
the existing Ferry Street Bridge.
“Among the changes that could
be made was the construction of a
bike/pedestrian bridge,” Malone
said. The committee's desire to fa
cilitate alternate modes of trans
portation was a large part of the
decision, she said.
Larsen said.
Along with the construction of
the bike bridge, which was named
after Rep. Peter DeFazio by the
City Council, the Ferry Street
Bridge Project includes many dif
ferent ways to help bicycle and
pedestrians.
Two 8-foot walkways on either
side of the Ferry Street Bridge are
being constructed, one of which is
already open for use, Malone said.
This way people will have a
choice between the bike bridge
and the actual Ferry Street Bridge
when two corridors are created,
she said.
Later in the project, a ramp will
be built from Coburg Road to Cen
tennial Boulevard, which will in
clude a separate bike trail. A new
ramp will be built from Coburg
Road to Interstate 105, including a
separate bike trail.
These new bike trails will sepa
rate bike and pedestrian traffic
from cars and stop bicyclists from
having to compete with cars, Mal
one said.
Consultants for the city came up
with four possible designs for the
bridge and presented them to the
public at the Eugene Celebration
in 1996. The four designs includ
ed a cable bridge, a thrust arch
bridge, a stress ribbon bridge or a
suspension bridge, the chosen de
sign.
All four of the designs met cri
teria devised by the Citizen’s Ad
visory Committee, said Tom
Larsen, the Ferry Street Bridge
project manager.
The criteria mandated that the
bridge be environmentally safe,
aesthetically pleasing, have a clear
span with no large piles support
ing the bridge from the river and
that it have some sort of exposed
structure so the public can see
how it is held up, Larsen said.
“Most people leaned toward the
suspension bridge, as did the City
Council,” Malone said.
The towers on either side of the
river went up about three months
ago, the cables have been put to
gether during the past two weeks,
and their tension is currently be
ing checked, Larsen said.
“Eight of the 40 concrete seg
ments for the bridge have already
been put in place, each weighing
14.7 tons,” he said.
The bridge is designed to hold
up to half a million pounds,
A suspension bridge is a weight
management system that creates a
balance between the actual bridge
and the towers on either side of the
river, Larsen said.
A suspension bridge consists
mainly of cables that hang down
over the river, holding the bulk of
the bridge in place. These cables
run up over the towers on either
side, thus pulling the bridge up
from the river and out to either
bank. The towers are held down
by large anchors that prevent them
from falling toward each other.
This design eliminates the need
for piles, large support structures
that run from the bridge into the
river below, and is therefore an en
vironment-friendly alternative.
After the bike bridge is finished,
bike paths that lead to the bridge
will have to be constructed,
Larsen said. “The bridge will be
completed long before we can ac
tually use it,” he said.
Felicity Ayles covers city devel
opment, the West University
neighborhood for the Emerald.
She can be reached via e-mail at
fizzer@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Higher education briefs
Thomason donates to
business school
Portland auto dealer Scott
Thomason and his wife, Debbie
Autzen, recently gave the
Charles H. Lundquist College of
Business $250,000 of a $1 mil
lion donation to go toward the
teaching-facilities addition on
Grayson Hall.
Thomason, a 1976 graduate of
the business college, is president
and chief executive officer of
Thomason Auto Group. Autzen
is the niece of Thomas J. Autzen,
after whom Autzen Stadium was
named. Thomason will continue
to give $250,000 each of the next
three years as construction con
tinues.
l ne business college wants to
break ground on the 50,00
square-foot, $16.35 million addi
tion next summer. Currently, the
college has received $8.5 million
from private donors and $3.5
million from the state.
The addition would include
new classrooms and technologi
cal teaching aids, a career re
source center, lounge areas for
study and informal meetings,
rooms for students and faculty
working on special projects, a
300-seat auditorium and a board
room for business and industry
gatherings. The new addition
would help ease the crunched
space for the 2,700 business stu
dents using the building.
Spring graduation
deadline approaching
Undergraduate students plan
ning on graduating winter or
spring term should fill out their
degree applications soon.
January 15 is the final deadline
for winter term graduation appli
cations and the early deadline
for spring. The final deadline for
spring term graduation is April
9.
Students who apply early ben
efit because they can receive
comments on their progress re
port which can alert them of
missing credits or unfulfilled re
quirements, said University
graduation specialist Estelle
Forster.
There is no longer a fee for ap
plying because the matriculation
fee covers the cost. After stu
dents’ applications have been re
viewed, they will receive a post
card alerting them of their
standing.
Applications are available on
the second floor of Oregon Hall.
Graduate students should apply
through their individual schools.
Need part- or full-time work? Want weekends and holidays off?
feCTT
Apply now- Springfield Public
Schools is filling immediate
openings for regular and
substitute food service, custodial
and transportation staff. Most
custodial positions are 8-hour
evening shifts; food service hours
vary. Benefit packages for 4- to 8
hour regular employees.
• Custodians start at $8.75
(regular, non-sub)
• Custodial substitutes start
at $8.33
• Food Service substitutes
start at $7
• Transportation substitutes
(bus drivers) start at $7.43
Applicalions are available at
Springfield Public Schools
Administration Building,
525 Mill Street, Springfield.
More information may be
obtained by phoning 726-3203.
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