Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2012)
NEWS THREE LANES MAY BE BETTER THAN FOUR Frequent travelers on Willamette Street between 24th and 32nd avenues know that the corridor isn’t Eugene’s fi nest for travel, and with the November passage of the pavement preservation bond measure, there’s funding to repave and possibly reconfi gure the stretch in the next fi ve years. Transportation Planning Engineer Chris Henry says that four-lane, two-direction streets create problems for everyone who uses the street. He says that people turn- ing left often stop in the left travel lane, people turning right slow in the right lanes, and cyclists end up riding lawfully in a lane of traffi c or on the sidewalks with pedestrians. Henry says that planners and community members are considering the option of having one lane of travel plus a center turn lane, then using the extra lane of space for bike lanes, bus turn-outs, widening the sidewalks or on-street parking. “A center turn lane would move those turning movements out of the travel lane, and that frees up the remaining travel lane in each direction to better handle the through movement of traffi c,” he says. Safety is another problem reconfi guration could im- prove. “What is a little unusual for Willamette Street is that the collision rate is about twice as high as the state- wide average for similar facilities,” Henry says. Some of the driveways on Willamette are redundant, he says, and don’t necessarily improve access to businesses on the route. Each driveway is an intersection, and “every one of those driveways creates its own set of confl icts that, if people don’t yield the right of way appropriately, may result in a crash,” he says. While some community members have expressed concern about the reconfi guration, worrying that it will make the drive more hectic rather than less and drive away business, Henry says that during focus group meetings, business and property owners were all sup- portive of a three-lane alternative, though they debated what should be done with the remaining space. The cy- cling community has been pressing for bike lanes on Willamette for years, and given a recent PSU study that shows bikers spend more per month at local businesses than drivers do (read more at wkly.ws/1eq), business owners might be warming to the idea. “There’s been a suggestion by some that cyclists should take alternate routes and side streets,” Henry says, “but what we’re hearing from the cycling community is that they want to be able to travel to the businesses on Wil- lamette Street, and that means being able to move up and down the street when they’re there.” While biking on sidewalks outside of the downtown core is legal, Henry says it’s still not a good idea in general. “Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk creates confl icts with the pedestrians and creates a safety problem for both the pedestrians and the cyclists,” he says, “which are further compounded by the 70-some driveways along this eight- block stretch of Willamette Street so that there’s confl icts between the bicyclists and pedestrians and the motorists that are turning in and out of businesses along the street.” Henry says the South Willamette Street Improvement Plan is still in its early phases, and the next meeting, fo- cused on evaluating the different alternatives, is 6 pm Feb. 27 at South Eugene High School. — Shannon Finnell GIRL ASSAULTED IN SPRINGFIELD SEEKS ANSWERS On the evening of Nov. 23, a 17-year-old African- American girl was beaten and left for dead near the Spring- fi eld Fred Meyer. Now family members say they need the public’s help to catch the perpetrator. “Some people have a mentality of not wanting to talk to the police, but this is somebody’s life,” says Jeremiah Farish, the girl’s brother. “She could have died — if the lady didn’t fi nd her, she could have died.” He urges anyone with knowledge of the attack to call the Springfi eld Police Department Tip Line at 726-3721. According to Farish, the girl’s injuries included mas- sive facial swelling, a broken nose, bleeding from her ear, multiple upper front teeth missing along with the bone >>> CONTINUED ON P. 10 SP O RTS OREGON VICTORY Five good reasons why the Ducks will beat the Wildcats 1. 2. Been there, done that. Oregon is returning to the stadium where they played in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago. Having been to four consecu- tive BCS bowls, Oregon is used to the hype of playing in a BCS bowl. K-State has not been to a BCS bowl since 2004. K-State will bring lots of fans to the game, but Oregon will bring the focus needed to win on the big stage. 3. Oregon’s linebackers. Michael Clay, Kiko Alonso and Boseko Lokombo are underrated, experienced, athletic, fast linebackers. K-State quarter- back Collin Klein is a veteran, Heisman-fi nalist quarterback who has hurt teams with his running. At 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds, he has run over defenders for 895 yards and 22 touchdowns. Oregon’s linebackers are big and fast enough to shut down Collin’s running, which is a big part of K-State’s offense. Oregon rolls to a 42-21 victory. — Bern Johnson The forward pass. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota throws the ball pretty well and Kansas State does not do a good job defending against the pass. The Wildcats rank 90th in the nation in defending the pass and got scorched for more than 300 yards more than once. Watch for Josh Huff to make some big catches. If Marcus can fi nd tight end Colt Lyerla early and often, the Ducks will roll. Turnovers. The secret to K-State’s success this season has been turnovers. The Wildcats lead the nation in turnover margin — they have taken the ball away from opponents 31 times, while only handing it over 10 times. Bad news for the Wildcats: Oregon is almost as good at the turnover game. The Ducks rank third in turnover margin and have taken the ball away as well as anyone in the nation. Holding onto the ball is a key to winning football games, and the Ducks look good if they do not let the Wildcats win big in the turnover game. 8 The Lache effect. Remember Lache Seastrunk? He arrived in Eugene as a celebrated running back recruit and left when he found himself stuck on the depth chart behind Kenjon Barner and DeAnthony Thomas. He ended up at Baylor and ran through the Wildcats defense for 185 yards December 27, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com and a touchdown when Baylor crushed K-State this season. If K-State defenders had trouble catching Lache, they are likely to have problems even catching a glimpse of Kenjon and DeAnthony. The K-State defenders are not fast enough to keep up with Oregon’s running game. 4. 5.
