BIKING MCKENZIE PASS
The widest, most scenic bike path in Oregon and perhaps the world just opened
up for a very limited time only.
ODOT announced last week that it had opened one lane through the snow on the
Old McKenzie Pass Highway (OR 242) to bicyclists and pedestrians only. No
motorized vehicles. The bare pavement path across the lava plateau beneath the
Three Sisters will be car-free until all the snow melts off the other highway lane,
according to ODOT.
With a 15-foot snowdrift near the pass, gates are likely to stay closed at least
through this weekend. ODOT states, “There is no firm date for reopening, but it’s
anticipated it will be in July.” Check ODOT at tripcheck.com or dial 511 for the latest
information.
The car-free road starts 11 miles up Hwy 242 at Alder Springs Campground,
tucked into towering Douglas fir trees (about a 90-minute drive from Eugene). A sign
says a Forest Service pass is required for parking, but there’s no pay kiosk and no
rangers were checking last Sunday.
Boost your bike around the snow gate and start climbing. At four mph it’s three
hours to the top 12 miles away. That speed is doable enough for a reasonably fit
12-year-old or reasonably unfit 45-year-old with a granny gear, but you’ll be passed
by many people in Lycra and shoes clicked into racing bikes.
The road avoids very steep grades by using many hairpin switchbacks. About 3
miles in, you may start to see patches of snow in the forest before you hit “Dead
Horse Grade.” Here the road snakes back on itself several times to work up a near
cliff.
Two full bike water bottles and a couple of granola bars should fuel you up and
over to where the road levels mostly out with cooling, 4-foot snow banks on both
sides. At the roadside tomb of a pioneer who died on the pass trying to deliver the
Christmas mail, a guy in a T-shirt and flip flops walked by with his girlfriend and a
Chihuahua. Better equipment is advised.
Two miles before the basalt tower of the Dee Wright Observatory, there’s a great
view of the snowy Sisters. It’s also a great place to lie in the middle of the normally
busy highway. The intimate ride up the quiet pass may make 242 never look the
same to you.
From the tower atop the 5,325-foot pass, there’s a panorama of mountain peaks
all the way up to Mount Hood on a clear day. Check out the biggest 15-foot snowdrift
on the other side of the pass before hitting the bathrooms, putting on a jacket and
checking your brakes. The 50-minute trip back down is a screamer. — Alan Pittman
(A version of this story first appeared at EugeneCycles.com)
SUMMER FOOD
PROGRAM STARTS
Hungry children can get a healthy meal during the summer when schools are
closed. The Summer Food Service Program is a federally funded nutrition
program in neighborhoods around the state. Meals are served in locations where
kids congregate such as playgrounds, summer schools and community centers.
Visit www.summerfoodoregon.org or call (800) SAFENET to find a location.
Eugene and Springfield have about 30 locations and days and hours vary. Most
sites serve lunch, but some offer breakfast and even afternoon snacks and dinner.
LIGHTEN UP
BY R A FA E L A L DAV E
City Councilor Mike Clark wants the council
to open its meetings with the Pledge of
Allegiance to “celebrate something that
unites us.” This is Eugene, man. If you’re
into unity, pass around a joint.
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MEETING EYES
BEHAVIOR
DOWNTOWN
Different sorts of people gather in
downtown Eugene during the summer:
buskers and panhandlers looking to make a
buck or two, agonizingly slow groups of
tourists mobbing the sidewalks, hitchhikers
and travelers just hanging out, retired hippies
staring at clouds, and perhaps even a few
residents doing their best to ignore everybody
else and go about their daily business.
So what happens when people don’t get
along? Usually the odd drunken rant or a
stern warning from one of those bike cops.
Sometimes, however, things get out of hand,
and somebody ends up with a hefty fine,
exclusion from downtown or even jail time.
In an attempt to find a more constructive
solution to the issue, the Downtown
Neighborhood Association (DNA) will
sponsor a meeting July 27 to address
behavior issues, homelessness in downtown
Eugene and resources available to downtown
residents and the homeless community.
“The objective of this meeting is to
inform the community of the options out
there and make us all feel more comfortable
during the summer,” said Sherrill Necessary,
DNA member.
Called “Summertime Demographics
Downtown: Impacts And Actions,” a panel
of eight organizations ranging from the
American Civil Liberties Union to the
Eugene Police Department will field
questions from the audience about increasing
understanding and minimizing conflict
between downtown residents and homeless
individuals.
“We’re dealing with the rights of
community members, we’re dealing with
limited resources, and we’re dealing with
behavioral issues downtown,” said David
Mandelblatt, DNA chair.
“We’ve all got rights,” he said, “but what
are we going to do when those rights conflict
with each other? It’s not illegal to be
obnoxious; it’s not illegal to ask people for
money on the street.”
Many downtown residents have
expressed their frustration with the homeless
population, saying they are disrespectful and
unhygienic and that they intimidate local
residents. Necessary talked about having to
clean up human feces in her backyard, an
experience she said she’s in no hurry to
repeat.
One option the DNA considered was
asking the Dining Room to charge 25 cents
per meal in an effort to make the downtown
area less attractive to homeless individuals.
The Dining Room is an organization that
prepares and distributes food to Eugene’s
homeless population.
“That’s the bird feed for the pigeons,”
said Necessary. “If not every pigeon can get
in, then maybe they’ll go to another town.”
“One problem with Eugene specifically is
that there’s this reputation that it’s an easy
city,” said Dennis Westfall, DNA member.
“(People) can come down here, score
whatever kind of drug they want and just
hang out.”
Others were more sympathetic towards
the homeless population.
“We see people out there on the street
who are hurt,” said Mandelblatt. “What do
we do? It doesn’t make Eugene a better
community by ignoring those people.”
“The goal is to increase recognition and
respect by each group,” he commented later
via email. “One way or another, we all have
a stake in our community — in this case,
downtown Eugene.”
The meeting will be from 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Wednesday, July 27, in the Bascom-Tykeson
room of the Eugene Public Library. DNA
encourages everyone to attend, regardless of
whether they live in downtown.
— Nils Holst
CITY HALL:
DEMO OR
RENOVATE
The city of Eugene plans to move out of
City Hall completely in 11 months and rent
space for an indefinite number of years while
trying to figure out how to remodel the old
building or tear it down and build a new
building, and how to pay for it all.
City staff told the City Council last week
that they will spend $65,000 to hire two
architects, one to look at remodeling and
another to look at demolition. The architects’
work will be reviewed by a committee
reporting to city staff and the results will be
presented in displays at the Eugene
Celebration.
The cost of a new building approached
$200 million in previous design work that
the city spent $2 million to get and promote
before deciding the building was too
expensive. The city has only about $9 million
in reserves for the project, meaning a tax
increase vote could be likely.
City staff said they will compare the tear
down vs. renovate options “equally and
impartially.” But in previous debates, both
the city staff and a council majority have
clearly favored tearing down the 40-year-old
building. Some councilors and citizen critics
have charged that a tear-down would waste
money, resources and a historic building.
Councilor Alan Zelenka argued that it
would be cheaper and more environmentally
friendly to tear down City Hall and lease a
new net-zero, highly energy efficient
building from a for-profit developer.
“The remodel would be so much like a
new building, it might not even be close to
cost-effective,” Zelenka argued.
But Councilor Betty Taylor said, “When
you talk about sustainability, you have to talk
about the cost of destroying something and
tearing it down.”
Taylor said that the rushed process
appeared biased towards demolition. “There
are big differences of opinion about what we
should do with City Hall,” she said. “We’re
moving out with no idea of what’s going to
happen here.” — Alan Pittman
EUGENE WEEKLY JUNE 30, 2011 7