QuickTake:

Street changes and police enforcement were among the topics discussed at a sometimes somber event about dangers to bicyclists and others on Eugene streets. Four bicyclists have been killed from injuries in vehicle collisions since August.

“Eyes open”

“Phone down”

“Every life matters”

Signs with these inscriptions and others will be placed along Patterson Street in Eugene in response to deaths within the past year of two University of Oregon students hit by vehicles while on bicycles, said Daniel Gyekye, a UO doctoral student and student government diversity leader.

Gyekye spoke alongside city leaders and transportation safety advocates Wednesday, May 20, at Rosetta Place Park, about two blocks from the most recent Eugene traffic fatality involving a bicyclist, the fourth in 10 months.

Other safety initiatives mentioned at the event, which drew a crowd of about 50 citizens, several in riding gear:

• Roundabouts will be added at “high crash locations and corridors” like Division Avenue and Franklin Boulevard, said Logan Telles, a transportation planner for the city of Eugene.

Franklin Boulevard changes will begin next year, with two roundabouts planned, a city spokesperson said in an email, and two Division Avenue roundabouts will be added in 2028. Another is planned at South Bailey Hill Road and Bertelson Road.

• Curb extensions and signal improvements “to help better separate people walking and biking from people driving” are coming as part of “redesigns” of some other intersections, Telles said.

Extensions have been built since 2020 and will be added this year at West First Avenue and North Jackson Street as well as Pine Canyon Drive at Huckleberry Street in southeast Eugene, among other locations, a city spokesperson said.

Flashing crosswalks are planned within the next two years on East 15th Avenue at Hilyard and Patterson streets. Flashing crosswalks will also be added at Goodpasture Island Road and Happy Lane, and also at Royal Avenue near Prairie Mountain School, among other signal changes.

• A citywide “speed management strategy” is in the works, Telles said, describing it as a first for Eugene. A city spokesperson said “anonymized connected vehicle data and cell data” will identify which streets have the most severe speeders in a study underway. The study does not have an expected completion date.

• A federal grant disbursed by the state Department of Transportation will support police “overtime enforcement on distracted driving, seat belts, and DUI,” Police Chief Chris Skinner said. A police spokesperson said Wednesday information about the grant amount was not immediately available.

• Between emergency calls, officers will prioritize traffic safety. “That doesn’t mean more citations for our citizens, that means more stops, that means more conversations,” Skinner said.

• City Council will discuss bringing red-light cameras to Eugene. “You’ve seen them in many other communities as a way of addressing really unlawful driving,” Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson said when asked about the technology. “It is really important that we be thinking about all of the options that might help to protect people.”

The signs to be placed on Patterson Street, a student government project, is personal for Gyekye.

Erick Njue, a 30-year-old UO doctoral student killed Jan. 25 after being hit at Patterson Street and 22nd Avenue, “was a very good friend of mine,” he said.

The leader of a Eugene cyclist group also spoke Wednesday of losing a friend.

“I’ve been filled with grief, fear, and asking myself why this has happened,” said Kayna Robison, president of the Eugene-based cycling group known as Greater Eugene Area Riders, or GEARs.

Robison spoke about the most recent person killed, 61-year-old David Winston Morris, who she described, her voice breaking, as a “family man, mentor, local business owner, and a member of GEARs.” 

Her friend was also “a responsible and experienced rider,” who “rode with care, respect, and awareness,” Robison said. He was killed after being struck by a vehicle on River Road near Rosetta Avenue.

“GEARs hopes that the city of Eugene will make meaningful improvements to high-risk areas, so that human error does not result in a loss of life,” Robison said.

The event was organized by the nonprofit Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation. Rob Zako, the organization’s executive director, said the date for Wednesday’s event was chosen to coincide with what’s known as the Ride of Silence, an international memorial event for those killed while bicycling.

Other bicyclists killed in Eugene since August: Merle Sheffield, 63, after being struck while crossing Highway 99 at Side Street; Elizabeth Cardenas Figueroa, 21, from injuries sustained while in a crosswalk on Hilyard Street near East Eighth Avenue.