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Home My WebLink About07/08/10 - City Council NewsletterEUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER July 8, 2010 City of Eugene 777 Pearl Street, Room 105 Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 (541) 682-5010 (541) 682-5414 (FAX) www.eugene-or.gov IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION TH AND WILLAMETTE REOPENS TO TRAFFIC; LOTS MORE ROADWORK AHEAD 29 GLOBAL WATER ADVOCATE ALEXANDRA COUSTEAU AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY SWIM MEET BRINGS HUNDREDS OF VISITORS TO EUGENE AROUND THE CITY th 29 and Willamette Reopens to Traffic; Lots More Roadwork Ahead A busy summer roadwork season continues, with one major project in south Eugene winding down this week and a half-dozen more ramping up elsewhere around town. th The intersection of 29 Avenue and Willamette Street is scheduled to fully reopen to traffic on Friday, July 9. After a slow, rainy start, the project rolled into high gear as the weather improved, and substantive completion of the work actually finished slightly ahead of schedule. Some final striping work remains. The striping materials will be applied after the new concrete surface is completely dry. The work will be done at night to minimize traffic disruption. Meanwhile, south Eugene will continue to see plenty of roadwork in the coming week. th Patterson Street remains closed between 19 th and 24 avenues for reconstruction, and a th three-week closure of 18 Avenue between Patterson and Hilyard is coming up the week of July 19. High Street is scheduled for milling and th Workersprepare to reopen 29 and Willamette intersection on Friday th paving operations between Fifth and 11 rd avenues, and milling and paving work is set to begin on 33 Avenue between Willamette and Hilyard streets. Also, thnd watch for repair work on Willamette Street between 46 and 52 avenues, as Eugene Sand & Gravel begins saw- cutting the pavement on Monday, with daytime grinding and paving operations starting late in the week. In the Crest Drive area, a milestone has been reached with the paving of Friendly Street and Storey Boulevard; but there is still lots of work to be done, and motorists are likely to encounter road closures and rough patches. th In the mid-town area, a major project to repave 13 Avenue from Alder to Washington streets is beginning, following weeks of pre-paving waterline repairs by Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB). Crews from Wildish Construction will be focusing on utility adjustments and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sidewalk ramps in the th coming week, and moderate delays are expected. Another major project, repairs to the portion of West 18 Avenue between City View and the Blue Heron Bike Bridge east of Chambers, is underway, with both EWEB and Northwest Natural doing night work to relocate and repair underground utilities. Paving work by the City’s contractor, Knife River, is expected to begin the week of July 19. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 July 8, 2010 Last week, on the north side of town, Knife River started underground utility work on Harlow Road between Coburg Road and I-5, and reconstruction of failed sections of paving is scheduled to begin the week of July 12. The plan is to keep one lane of traffic in each direction open at all times, but motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes to avoid inevitable construction delays as well as the work being done on Harlow/Hayden Bridge and Gateway Street on the Springfield side. Meanwhile, Doyon Project Services, working under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, closed Goodpasture Island Road to through traffic on Tuesday to construct a major connecting culvert in the Delta Ponds. That closure, just north of Kendall Budget Sales, is expected to be in place for about a month. Also in that area, a City project to repave Valley River Drive from Willagillespie Road to Goodpasture Island Road will begin the week of July 12, with the paving done at night. The second phase of that project, paving Goodpasture Island Road between Delta Highway and Kingsley Road, is scheduled to start in early August. The best way to keep up on all the road work and construction-related traffic advisories is by visiting the web, at . For information on specific projects, contact Eric Jones at 541-682-5523, or www.eugene-or.gov/traffic eric.r.jones@ci.eugene.or.us to be put in touch with the appropriate project manager. Global Water Advocate Alexandra Cousteau at Eugene Public Library In the spirit of this year’s Summer Reading theme, “Make Waves!,” global water advocate and educator Alexandra Cousteau will speak at the Downtown Eugene Public Library on Thursday, July 22, at 6 p.m. Admission is free. Informative and inspiring, Alexandra Cousteau calls attention to ways everyone can help preserve a healthy planet through water conservation and sustainable management. She will visit Eugene as part of the five-month Expedition: Blue Planet 2010 tour sponsored by National Geographic. Expedition: Blue Planet 2010 will travel 14,500 miles across North America in a biodiesel bus, visiting communities to raise awareness and encourage action. Cousteau and her team will explore some of the great water treasures in each region, investigate local water issues, and film stories of people from all walks of life who are working to solve one of the great challenges of this generation – the global water crisis. The team will report live to a worldwide online audience at NationalGeographic.com. Cousteau has been honored as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and a United Nations Earth Trustee. She appears frequently in the media, from reporting for The Discovery Channel and CNN International to being named a “Fun Fearless Phenom” by Cosmopolitan magazine. Her first book, “This Blue Planet,” will be published in 2011. Educated in international relations at Georgetown University, Cousteau is the founder of the non-profit foundation Blue Legacy. The granddaughter of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and daughter of Phillipe Cousteau, she has grown up to energetically carry on the family legacy. "My father and grandfather were both great inspirations," she says. "The best example they gave me was the importance of living a life of consequence, value, and meaning. I honor their memories by speaking out for the preservation of our blue planet." For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at www.eugene-or.gov/library or 541-682-5450. Swim Meet Brings Hundreds of Visitors to Eugene The City of Eugene Aquatics Program and Mid-Oregon Swim Teams (MOST) will co-host the 2010 MOST Invitational Swim Meet at Amazon Pool, July 9 - 11. More than 500 competitors, ages 8 -17, from around Oregon are expected to compete in this regional meet which is sanctioned by USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming in the United States. Youth participate to qualify for the state meet based on time standards. The three-day meet is expected to have a significant financial impact in Eugene. Travel Lane County estimates the competitors and their parents will spend more than $154,000 on hotel rooms, meals, transportation and other purchases while they are in Eugene. During the meet, Amazon Pool will be closed to all public swimming, including lap and recreational swims. The EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 July 8, 2010 City’s two other pools, Echo Hollow Pool, 1655 Echo Hollow Road, and Sheldon Pool, 2443 Willakenzie Road, will be open for lap swims and will offer free recreational swims during the Amazon closure. Amazon Pool will re-open for lap swims, seasonal recreation swims and other public activities on Monday, July 11. For more information, call Rob Guthrie at 541-682-5350. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 July 8, 2010