Voters approve Broadway reopening
■ Downtown street will open
to cars again, but design and
funding issues still need to be
worked out by officials
By Sue Ryan
Oregon Daily Emerald
Eugene citizens voted Sept. 18 to
reopen the Broadway pedestrian
mall in downtown Eugene. Now, city
officials say they must decide how to
handle the task of opening an area
that has been closed to traffic for near
ly 30 years.
The measure, which passed with
a 67 to 32.9 percent vote, will open
Broadway as a through street for the
three-block segment between Char
nelton and Oak Streets.
“The next step is for us to ask City
Council to approve the work plan so
we can come up with design options
for the public to consider,’’ Braud
said.
City planners are scheduled to ap
pear before the council about the
Broadway plans on Oct. 10. Braud
said the cost is unknown at this time
because the street has not been de
signed yet.
City Councilor Bonny Bettman
said she is concerned about how the
city will pay for the project and how
the new design will impact the city.
“The way opening Broadway will
result in a successful reopening is not
to move people through downtown
as fast as you can in their cars,” she
said, “but to look at how to create that
streetscape so there is a circulation of
people that will be most beneficial to
the area.”
Councilor David Kelly echoed
Bettman’s desire for a street design
that will accommodate both pedes
trians and auto traffic, and he said
city staff members are accumulating
t(
Jonathan House Emerald
Tony Russell (standing with Angela Jaster and her daughter Grace) is one ot the many downtown entrepeneurs who will be attected by
the reopening of the Broadway pedestrian mall. Russell attributes the City Council’s recent decision as a “reactionary response against
the kids” who hang out downtown.
funds for the construction.
“The expectation is that funding
will come from county roads, city
funds and adjoining property man
agers,’'he said.
The Oct. 10 session will look at big
picture issues regarding the design,
according to Kelly. He said the
process will allow time for the com
munity to weigh in on the design.
“We think it will increase foot traf
fic,’’ said Robin Pendoley, the man
ager at Cafe Paradiso. “But we’re
bracing for the fact that our business
will be affected for a period of time
during construction."
Adam Bernstein, who manages
Adam’s Place, a bar and grill on
Broadway, said the reopening is a
good thi ng for the community.
“I hope construction doesn’t deter
customers from coming," he said.
There were 30,391 total votes cast
in the Sept. 18 election, with a voter
turnout of 37 percent. The issue of
preference voting failed.
Sue Ryan is a community reporter for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. She can be reached at
sueryan@dailyemerald.com.
EWEB
increases
prices
36 percent
■ Many community members
feel the new system will help
conserve energy in the face
of a substantial rate hike
By Lindsay Buchele
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Eugene Water and Electric
Board voted to enact a 36 percent
rate increase on residential electric
bills Friday, along with an 11 per
cent increase in water bills to begin
with the November bill.
EWEB spokesman Lance Robertsoi
said the increase was expected, since
the Bonn evi lie Power Administration,
which supplies 70 percent of EWEB s
power, warned the board that whole
sale rates could increase by as much
as 250 percent this fall. Wholesale
rates only went up 46 percent, Robert
son said, but EWEB still needed to
pass the increase on to customers.
The board decided that a tiered rate
structure, which charges an increas
ing percentage rate as customers use
more energy and water, will save
most residential customers more
money than a flat 36 percent increase
on electric and 11 percent on water.
“More than 70 percent of our
customers are going to be better off
with a tiered rate structure than a
Hat rate," EWEB President Doroth y
Anderson said.
Turn to EWEB, page 6
The Board, Staff and Students of
Oregon Hinel welcome you with
wishes for a happy, healthy, peaceful
Upcoming tueniS:
Kol Nidre Services
Wednesday, September 26,2001
Gerfinger Lounge on Campus,
7pm
Call Hillel for rickets
Yom Kippur Services
Thursday, September 27,2001
Gerfinger Lounge
10:00am-Morning Service
6:00pm-Aftemoon, Evening
and Ne’illah Service
Break the Fast following services
Call Hillel for Tickets
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday September 28.2001
6:00pm-Services
7:00pm-Dinner
Pizza Night
Monday October 1,2001,6:30pm
Pegasus Smokehouse Pizza parior
790 E. 14th, Eugene
The Week of Sukkot
(Festival of Booths/Harvest festival)
October 2-9
Check out our calendar
for more details!
012489
1059 Hilyard St. * Eugene, OR 97401 * 541.343.8920 * hillel@darkwing.uoregon.edu * http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~hillel