West Eugene Parkway

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The West Eugene Parkway was a proposed re-alignment of Oregon Highway 126 through the western parts of Eugene, Oregon and its suburbs. Highway 126 through western Eugene currently runs along several surface streets (including West 11th Avenue); this route is well-known in the Eugene area for traffic problems. The proposed parkway, a limited-access expressway with some at-grade intersections and an interchange, would have run north of the current West 11th alignment, terminating at 6th and 7th Avenues (Oregon Highway 99 west of downtown). The project proved to be highly controversial within the local community, and in July 2006, ODOT suspended work on it, recommending a no-build alternative to the Federal Highway Administration. When the necessary paperwork is complete, the project will be effectively dead. ^[1]

[edit] Debate

Transportation planners argued that the new route is necessary to fight congestion in Eugene and its western suburbs, and that the highway would facilitate traffic and growth in the year 2025.

Opponents to the parkway alleged several things:

the route is not needed--further road construction is a symptom of urban sprawl and that better land use planning is the solution.
the route will encourage further development and urban sprawl in west Eugene.
that world petroleum supplies will likely be in decline long before the road would be completed, and therefore modest fixes to existing roads would be sufficient.
the proposed route will disrupt environmentally-sensitive areas, including wetlands near the proposed alignment.
the parkway is just a resurrection of the old Roosevelt Freeway proposal, which was cancelled in 1972 (and that calling the route a "parkway" is deceptive).
the proposed route will just dump more traffic in Eugene's downtown core, and that the project fails the federally mandated "independent utility" test (and is thus illegal) for this reason. (Public transportation projects must be self-standing, according to federal law; it is alleged that construction of the parkway will raise traffic on 6th and 7th Avenues to unacceptable levels, requiring construction of a new highway through downtown--a design element which if included in the current plan, would likely lead to its cancellation).
the price tag of the project (officially $169 million) would be better spent on other improvements to the area transportation network.

On June 18 and 19, 2001, the City of Eugene, Lane County, the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Bureau of Land Management (among others) held a two day "West Eugene Charette" to discuss the future of the project. Most participants were supporters of the highway, but at the end of the conference agreed to select "No Build" for the WEP. This consensus has not yet been implemented, and instead, ODOT and FHWA continue to spend millions on the Environmental Impact Statement. A report from this Charette is posted at the WETLANDS website.

Supporters, and the government agencies involved in the planning of the project, point to the fact that the Parkway proposal has been approved by city voters in two referendum elections, most recently in 2001. Opponents note that the election was 51 to 49, and that proponents claimed "The Money Is There" when selling the project. The official price tag for the WEP was $88 million in 2001, but a 2004 estimate by local and state governments predicts the cost is really $169 million. Few WEP proponents support tax increases to pay for the highway.

On October 26, 2005, the Eugene City Council voted 5-4 to withdraw the City's support for the project, although the City has continued its agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation to assume responsibility for maintaining part of the road. The City also owns property for the parkway that has not yet been transferred to the Bureau of Land Management's nature preserve for conservation and restoration.

In July 2006, ODOT withdrew its support of the project, effectively killing it.