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BY ALAN PITTMAN
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Biking the Interchange
ODOT’s I-5/Beltline path plan has six underpasses
P
eople on bikes and foot will fi nally
have a way to cross the great wall
of Beltline in north Eugene, but
they may have to go through a warren of
underpasses to do it.
The Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation (ODOT) unveiled draft plans for
a long-sought bike path under or over the
Beltline freeway that severs north and south
Eugene. The proposed $1 million route
would include six underpasses winding
through ODOT’s I-5 Beltline, $200 million
highway spaghetti interchange project.
Members of the Eugene Bicycle and
Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)
questioned why ODOT wouldn’t build
a single bike bridge with a safe, direct
connection rather than the complex system
of underpasses.
The proposed plan creates a “rabbit war-
ren” of safety issues, BPAC member David
Gizara said. “Why are you building so many
things? Why aren’t you doing a straight line?”
Anya Dobrowolski said many women
may not feel safe going under the roads.
“The night time issues are huge,” she said.
BPAC city staffer Lindsay Selser said an
existing narrow underpass under the railroad
tracks in southeast Eugene near I-5 is
“horrible, stinky, smelly, creepy, gross.” She
said, “it’s where attacks happen in my head.”
But ODOT’s project leader Anne
Sanders said the state highway department
quickly dismissed the bike bridge
alternative. “Economically and practically,
it wasn’t going to be an option.”
ODOT interchange designer Carl Deaton
said he started to look at a bike bridge, but
found that at an acceptable grade, it would
have to be “very long” to get over the
elevated fl yover ramp and need more right of
way. He estimated such a big bridge could
cost roughly $6 million, almost three times
the cost of the new bike suspension bridge
over I-5 to the Gateway Mall. “I knew it was
a big cost; I knew I’d have to start taking
homes, so I stopped,” Deaton said.
“We really don’t have the budget for it,”
Sanders said.
Gizara made a motion that BPAC
formally ask ODOT to perform a more
complete analysis of a bridge.
Gizara said a bridge crossing will be
more used than the undercrossings and
could serve growth and big employers in
the area like the new hospital. “Cutting it
down to that one crossing is going to be
money well spent,” he said. “How much
are you spending on cars?”
But BPAC member Fred Tepfer, a UO
planner, said many people wouldn’t want
to climb such a long, tall bridge to get over
Beltline. “It’s ridiculously long,” he said.
“There is no good solution here, so I’m not
sure spending more money is better.”
Gizara’s motion died for a lack of
consensus on BPAC.
Deaton said the underpasses would
have more open, slanted walls and possibly
lighting to increase safety.
Another option would be one longer
underpass under Beltline. But Deaton said
that would add the expense of a new Beltline
road bridge to the interchange project.
“Long tunnels are enormously scary to
people,” Tepfer also said.
Another option not discussed at the
BPAC meeting would be to move the bike
bridge farther west to avoid the fl yover
and cross at a lower point. But that could
require buying a right of way from The
Register-Guard headquarters.
BPAC members thanked ODOT for
working on the bike connection. A way
to get past the Beltline wall has long been
sought by local bicyclists. Busy Coburg
Road offers only a long and dangerous
detour. The path would connect to existing
paths leading to the riverfront paths and
Gateway mall and could be heavily used by
neighborhoods and commuters to businesses
on Chad Drive and/or recreational cyclists
heading to rural routes.
ew
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A version of this story first appeared at EugeneCycles.com
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EUGENE WEEKLY
JUNE 16, 2011
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