Beltline/Delta and Beltline/River Road main topic at this Thursday’s SCCO meeting

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Gary Haliski

Come to our March 7th meeting to get the most recent updates regarding improvements along Beltline Highway from Delta Highway to River Road. ODOT will begin construction to reconfigure the Delta/Beltline interchange in 2020. The SCCO meeting is Thursday, March 7 at 7 PM at Messiah Lutheran Church, 3280 River Road, Eugene, 97404

WHY IS THIS PROJECT NEEDED? Beltline Highway from Delta Highway to River Road is one of the most congested places in the Eugene/Springfield area. The Beltline Highway Facility Plan recommends several projects to improve safety and mobility in this area. Together, these projects would widen the Beltline Highway to three lanes in each direction from River Road to Delta Highway, replace the River Avenue/Division Avenue interchange, and add a new local bridge north of the highway.

BELTLINE: DELTA HIGHWAY TO RIVER ROAD Building on the 2014 Beltline Highway Facility Plan, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is working to improve safety and mobility on the Randy Papé Beltline Highway between Delta Highway and River Road. The Beltline Highway Facility Plan recommends several projects to improve safety and travel times in the area. Work is underway to lay the groundwork for these construction improvements, to be ready when funding is available.

ODOT will begin construction to reconfigure the Delta/ Beltline Highway Interchange in 2020. The interchange will be reconstructed as a partial cloverleaf to improve safety by eliminating merging and weaving issues on the two intersecting highways. Visit the project website to learn more about the design how it fits in the overall concept for the Beltline corridor.

View the ODOT Beltline project page and/or sign up for Project Alerts in the right column of this ODOT page.

You can find a video of the future Beltline-Delta interchange here.

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Growing Good in the ‘Hood!

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Tim Foelker

This event was postponed until March 30th, 2019, because of the recent snow event. Please (re)mark your calendars for this exciting seed-swap, propagation, and education event. Check for updates on the NOAG Garden’s facebook. https://www.facebook.com/events/349831348940752/

Eugene faith-based urban farming initiative, NAOG Garden, announces its first annual Seed Swap and Plant Share – a free event open to “neighbors” of all gardening skill levels – on Saturday March 2 from 12pm to 4pm at the Neighborhood Assembly of God Church, 815 Irving Road.

In addition to free seeds and plants shared by attendees (including a limited supply of fruit tree and grape scion), there will be workshops on worm composting, making elderberry syrup, small scale homesteading and neighborhood greening and resiliency plans.

Featured speakers include, but are not limited to, Jan Spencer of SuburbanPermaculture.org and River Road Neighborhood Association, Patti Leahy of WorldEnergyHealing.com, Mike Brunt of Eugene Permaculture Meetup and more.

What makes this event unique? The NAOG Garden is a small group with big plans to be a self-supporting ministry serving neighbors through their garden stand, CSA, Lane County Farmers Market, and upcoming training and apprenticeship programs.

Come make new friends, discover what this small faith-based group is doing to help with local food security and neighborhood resiliency, as well as share some of your extra seeds and take home some new-to-you seeds for your own garden this year!

For more information, please contact naoggarden@gmail.com, or visit the Garden’s Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/349831348940752/

#growinggoodinthehood

Christina Clark
PO Box 41211
Eugene OR 97404
541-375-0535

P.S. If you need a garden plot for your gardening adventure the Santa Clara Community Garden currently has plots for rent. Contact goodsoil@santaclaracommunitygarden.org, or call Peter Thurston, 541-321-0798.

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Building a Better Transportation Future Together

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Tim Foelker

A well-planned transportation system supports a thriving community. The City of Eugene and Lane Transit District encourage input from March 10 to April 11 on transportation investment packages for five of our major streets: River Road, Highway 99, Coburg Road, MLK, Jr. Blvd., and 30th Avenue to Lane Community College. Participate in an online open house or drop by our event on March 18:


Visit the online open house from March 11 to April 10 at MovingAhead.org.
Community-Wide Open House
Monday, March 18, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Baker Center, 975 High St., Eugene
Whether in-person or online, your participation will enter you in a drawing to win a $25 Amazon gift card!
The community-wide open house will have free children’s activities and refreshments! Interpretation in Spanish will be available. Interpretación en español estará disponible. Accessibility arrangements, interpreter, translation, and/or child-care services can be made for all MovingAhead events with 48 hours notice. For more information, call 541-682-6100 (voice) or 7-1-1 (TTY).
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March 2 Composting Workshop

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Peter Thurston

News Release

February 22, 2019

Contact: Peter Thurston, 541-321-0798

2019 Free Compost Workshop on Saturday, March 2, 10 AM

The Santa Clara Community Garden (SCCG) will host the following soil building workshops. SCCG is located behind St. Matthews Church at 4110 River Road, about 1-1/2 mile north of Beltline. These composting workshops are free and do not require preregistration. All sessions run for an hour or two.

2019 Compost Workshop Schedule

March 2 — Review of cover crops and composting techniques
March 23 – OSU Hot Compost Specialist demonstration
May 11 – OSU Compost Specialist demonstration
June 1 – Build a compost
October 19 – OSU Compost Specialist demo and cover crops
November 16 – SCCG Compost Demo

Workshops will include discussion of various composting methods, including: hot compost, cold compost, lasagna, cover crops, and soil building with worms.

Garden plots are available to rent immediately in the Santa Clara Community Garden for $60 per year. This includes water, leaves for mulching, and access to compost. People who want to build up and improve the soil in a garden plot using composting techniques may attend compost workshop(s) and rent a plot right away. Contact Peter at 541-321-0798 for more information.

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Beaver-Hunsaker Update

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Gary Haliski

Here’s an update from Becky Taylor, Senior Transportation Planner for Lane County Public Works.

Slow Down sign for Beaver-Hunsaker

I really appreciate how many of you reached out to me and shared your safety concerns and ideas for improvement. There is incredible synergy and collaboration happening. Although plans are still in the works and funding has yet to be finalized, there has been enough discussion – including at public meetings, such as the Central Lane Metropolitan Policy Committee and the Lane Area Commission on Transportation – to share some preliminary plans.

Safety Engineering

We’re looking at a low-cost, low-impact solution that we could implement next summer. At this time, we are exploring how much room we could squeeze out of the exiting roadway to increase the space for people walking. Some ideas include changing the paint – shifting the fog lines and potentially narrowing the vehicle travel lanes – to provide as much space as possible (ideally four feet) for walking. The walking area would likely need to be buffered by some vertical post reflective delineators. There may be areas where we would need to add more gravel shoulder, but I’m not yet sure how much additional paving we could manage. We are also exploring a Rapid Flashing Pedestrian Beacon in the vicinity of Ross Lane, Echo, or Taito.

Safety Education

I’m working with the Safe Lane Coalition to develop a safety education campaign to deploy in the area. We’re reaching out to the many assisted living facilities in the area  (i.e. the group care where Irene lived, Lone Oak Assisted Living, St. Vincent de Paul, Laurel Court, Oak Leaf Village, Apple Orchard Village, Sierra Oaks Senior Living, Cornerstone Housing, and Green Leaf Village) to see if they would be interested in some pedestrian safety education – and some reflective gear, such as vests and lights. We would also like to develop signs that neighbors could display in their yards. Below is a yard sign design that we are exploring printing on real-estate-sized signs with posts that would just press into the grass. Please let me know if you’d be willing to display something like this in your yard – to help me with some cost estimates as I work on fundraising.

Thanks,

Becky Taylor
Senior Transportation Planner
Lane County Public Works
3040 N. Delta Hwy
Eugene, OR 97408

Becky.Taylor@co.lane.or.us
541-682-6932

Posted in Beaver-Hunsaker & Multi Use Path | Leave a comment