01/28/10 - City Council Newsletter

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All of these classes are at Campbell Community Center, 155 High Street. The presentations are free, but pre- registration is required. For more information, call Yvaughn Tompkins at 541-682-6315. Work Progressing on Delta Ponds Bridge Project Work is progressing on the new Delta Ponds Bridge, and the next phase of work will require occasional nighttime closures on Delta Highway as the span is constructed over the roadway. Weather permitting, the southbound lanes of Delta Highway will be closed between the Valley River Drive and Goodpasture Island Road exits from 10 p.m. on Monday, February 1, until 5 a.m., Tuesday, as two, 85-foot-high pylon towers are installed. If the work isn’t completed on Monday night, the southbound lanes will also be closed from 10 p.m., Tuesday, through 5 a.m., Wednesday. The outward-leaning pylon towers will eventually carry steel cables that will suspend the bridge decking across Delta Highway so that no support columns are needed in the traffic lanes. About one-third of the work has been completed on the new, elevated, 1,000-foot-long bicycle and pedestrian path and bridge from Goodpasture Island Road on the west to Robin Elevated pathway takes shape east of Goodpasture Island Road Hood Avenue on the east. The new path and bridge will create a much safer route over the Delta Highway, eliminating a miles-long detour and reducing bicycle and pedestrian traffic on the existing Delta Highway interchanges at Valley River and Goodpasture Island Road. Major work that remains to be done includes pouring the concrete for the elevated path, erecting the central pylons, extending the bridge section by section across Delta Highway, constructing the path on the Robin Hood Avenue side and constructing a high-visibility pedestrian crossing on Goodpasture Island Road. The work is scheduled to be completed by fall 2010. The primary sources of funding for the $6 million project are federal highway and federal stimulus funds. The project is being managed by the Eugene Public Works Department with OBEC Consulting Engineers as structural engineering consultants. Mowat Construction Company of Clackamas is the general contractor. Mowat also was the contractor for the Beltline flyover, the bicycle/ pedestrian bridge over I-5, and the Peter DeFazio Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge in Alton Baker Park. For more information, contact Project Manager Patrick Cox at 541- 682-6854 or visit www.eugene-or.gov/deltapondsbridge. Report Details Local Traffic Crashes by Type and Location The total number of motor vehicle crashes on Eugene streets continued to decline in 2008, but the number of injuries associated with those crashes remained significantly higher than historical averages, according to crash summary statistics recently compiled by the Eugene Public Works Department. Public Works prepares annual crash summaries using data provided by the Oregon Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). According to the most current full-year information available from DMV, there were a total of 1,660 crashes in Eugene in 2008, down from 1,821 crashes in 2006 and well below the 10-year average of 1,973 crashes per year. However, 751 injuries were reported in 2008, considerably above the 10-year average of 675 injuries per year. The report also showed five fatal crashes, 70 crashes involving bicycles (69 of them resulting in injuries), and 25 crashes involving pedestrians. The 2008 statistics include one fatality related to a bike crash and one pedestrian fatality. The report also details crashes by location. The “top 10” intersections for crashes in 2008 were: Coburg Road at Martin Luther King Boulevard/Country Club (35 crashes); Delta Highway at the eastbound exit to Beltline (30); River Road at Division Avenue (27), River Road at Silver Lane/River Avenue (24); River Road at Irving/Hunsaker th (24); Coburg Road at Willakenzie (18); Valley River Drive at Valley River Way (18); 11 Avenue at Bailey Hill Road (17); Highway 99 at Roosevelt Boulevard (16); and Barger Drive at Cubit Street (15). EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 January 28, 2010