Panel to discuss transportation issues – Widening Beltline – Good idea or not?

From the River Road Community Organization:

Please join us for the River Road Community Organization’s February General Meeting.
Monday, February 14, 7 – 8:30  
See zoom log in info below.

The transportation issue is high value. Please forward this message to your networks.  Thanks!

The meeting’s program will address the issue of widening Beltline between Delta Highway and River Road, but also the broader concern of funding transportation infrastructure that has been decidedly biased for generations, in favor of cars, suburbia and freeways, at the expense of transit, bikes, walkable neighborhoods, sustainability plus clean air and water.

The basic question – Is widening Beltline a good idea or a bad idea to address the issue of transportation safety, climate change, fossil fuels, public health, equity and resource efficiency?

“The Oregon Department of Transportation [ODOT] is considering options to significantly widen Beltline highway between Delta highway and River road, crossing the Willamette River, at a potential cost of a third of a billion dollars.

RRCO has assembled a panel to discuss the proposed Beltline project and the broader issue of transportation in a world that is very different compared to the 1950’s when the Interstate HIghway System began.

ODOT will present design options for the proposed Beltline project, why is there interest to increase capacity, what would it cost, what might be the benefits.

“The panel will include a mix of supporters for expansion who assume the widening will reduce accidents and congestion; an advocate for enhancing Eugene’s transportation options; and other panel members who say widening Beltline would induce more traffic congestion, aggravate climate change, interfere with the River Road/Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, be a poor choice given current trends of energy supplies and deprive funding that could be used for better community, environmental, public health and transportation outcomes.

Zoom info for the RRCO General Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89622784487?pwd=Z2ZUa2c2ZzNsN0pSdkpaRVNIYVViQT09
Meeting ID: 896 2278 4487 Passcode: RRCO22

Zoom info for discussion after the RRCO meeting ends at 8:30
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89553673085
Meeting ID: 895 5367 3085
Passcode: 990252

Below is a graphic that was presented to the SCCO in 2019. It may be outdated. The Beltline-Delta portion of the proposal has been completed. Click on the graphic to expand.