Cycle of Change » Walking

Cycle of Change: Walking

“I want to advocate for complete and safe sidewalks for everyone in the Eugene-Springfield area, with a revised funding model.”

Source: City of Eugene

The CoC Walking working group is also known as Community United to Repair Broken Sidewalks (CURBS).

To get involved, subscribe to the coc-walk@best-oregon.org Google Group:

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Want to talk about the broken sidewalks in Eugene? Take our brief survey:

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Know others who might be interested? Share this short link or other media:

best-oregon.org/CURBS-Survey

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Working for change

After researching how programs in other communities for repairing sidewalks, CURBS published a guest viewpoint:

At a City Council work session on June 25, 2025, staff provided an update on the city’s sidewalk improvement program, including progress on options for increasing sidewalk repair and construction in the community and exploring potential actions for City Council consideration:

After collecting almost 1,000 signatures to the petition, CURBS published a guest viewpoint:

Petition

CURBS started with a petition:

Our city government knows the importance of sidewalks: “Safe sidewalks benefit pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, joggers, and others who use sidewalks to travel around town. Safe, clean and hazard-free sidewalks promote mobility and livability for the citizens of Eugene. The community and citizens benefit from having pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and driveway approaches as part of the City’s overall transportation system.” 

Sadly, we residents of Eugene find that our sidewalks are clearly NOT safe, clean and hazard free. Many are in poor and deteriorating condition, and pose a significant risk for tripping and falling.  

We call on City Leaders to: 

  1. Develop a plan to substantially improve the condition of Eugene’s sidewalks over the next 10 years.
  2. Devise a stable, adequate and equitable funding mechanism for ongoing sidewalk repair.  

We agree that: 

  • 100% of Eugene residents are pedestrians some of the time; everyone uses our sidewalks! 
  • Many depend on walking to meet basic needs because of age, ability, and to save money.
  • Walking is an important component of our health and neighborhood life. Walking supports our local economy.  
  • Many home and business owners in our neighborhoods cannot afford to repair their sidewalks. It is expensive!
  • Sidewalks are transportation infrastructure, just like streets and bike paths.  
  • There does not appear to be an effective plan for fixing the sidewalks. Indeed, they are steadily getting worse.  

We urgently call on city leaders to develop a long-term funding mechanism to fix Eugene’s sidewalks.

We will present the petition—with these individual and organizational signatures—to the City Council.

Notice to property owner

If you’ve walked on Eugene’s sidewalks, chances are you’ve stumbled or even fallen on cracked, uneven pavement. Maybe you cursed the hazard. Maybe you wondered, “Why doesn’t somebody fix this?” The answer might surprise you: In Eugene, fixing the sidewalk isn’t the city’s job. It’s yours.

While the city of Eugene maintains streets, bike lanes, off-street paths and has even added accessible curb ramps at intersections, sidewalks are left out of the equation. That’s because under city code, adjacent property owners—not the city—are responsible for maintaining sidewalks. The trouble is, most property owners don’t even know that. And so, while our roads improve, our sidewalks continue to deteriorate.

If someone complains—anonymously—about the condition of the sidewalk adjacent to your property, you could receive a notice such as this one.

Courtesy Notice of Required Sidewalk/Approach Maintenance. CIty of Eugene Public Works Maintenance
Courtesy Notice of Required Sidewalk/Approach Maintenance. CIty of Eugene Public Works Maintenance
Courtesy Notice of Required Sidewalk/Approach Maintenance. CIty of Eugene Public Works Maintenance
Less seen small cracks can be more dangerous than large one. Two such cracks here will be ground down for $515
Less seen small cracks can be more dangerous than large one. Two such cracks here will be ground down for $515
Less seen small cracks can be more dangerous than large one. Two such cracks here will be ground down for $515

External links

Walk audits

Sidewalk quality

Sidewalk repair

Further reading

Local

Other

See also

Related information from BEST:

Last updated 5/6/26.