Update

UO student groups launch Patterson Street safety initiatives in honor of classmates lost

By Rob Zako
June 3, 2026

On May 27, ASUO, GTFF, and LiveMove held a news conference to honor those we have lost, to install signs urging safe driving, and to unveil a proposed street redesign aimed at improving safety. BEST and others joined in support.

On Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at the Spencer View student housing near where a person driving hit and killed Erick Munene Njue, University of Oregon (UO) student groups Associated Students of The University of Oregon (ASUO), Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF), and LiveMove held a news conference to honor those we have lost, to install signs urging safe driving, and to propose a redesign of Patterson Street. BEST and others joined in support..

Those we have lost

On Sunday, January 25, 2025, a person driving south along Patterson Street hit and killed Erick Munene Njue as he was bicycling across at 22nd Avenue. Erick was a 30-year-old University of Oregon doctoral student in special education, a former high school teacher in Kenya, and a resident of the Spencer View student housing.

Erick Munene Njue

“Patterson Street has been a problem over speeding every day, and even after the death of Erick, it’s still ongoing, and it’s something that we need to address,” said Daniel Gyekye, a UO Ph.D. student and ASUO Executive Secretary of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “We lost a friend dear to me, and very, very close as well. And we spoke the day he died. Today it’s Eric, but we don’t know what might happen to another student, and we don’t want this to happen again.”

“Erick was like a son to me, so this is very visceral for me,” said Mokaya Bosire, a UO professor of linguistics. “Every time these kinds of things happen, I am reminded that I’m not going to see him again. I am so grateful for the way that the community has rallied to bring change.”

So far this year in Eugene, in addition to Erick, Merle Dean Sheffield bicycling along Highway 99, David Winston Morris bicycling along River Road, and others have been killed on our streets.

Previously on Friday, August 8, 2025, a person driving north on Hilyard Street hit Elizabeth Cardenas Figueroa as she was bicycling across at 8th Avenue in a heavily marked crosswalk. Suffering multiple broken bones and a severe traumatic brain injury, she died ten days later. Elizabeth was a 21-year-old University of Oregon student, who came from Mexico to follow her dream of becoming a lawyer.

Elizabeth Cardenas Figueroa

Elizabeth and Erick were both killed near the UO campus while crossing a one-way, two-lane street as one person driving stopped for them but another person driving sped by. Smart Growth America has been highlighting streets it says are dangerous by design.

Sign campaign

ASUO and GTFF launched their Safe Streets Campaign, installing 22 signs along Patterson Street.

Street redesign

LiveMove unveiled the Erick Njue Connector, a proposed quick-build, low-cost, redesign of Patterson Street from 19th Avenue to 24th Avenue aimed at improving safety.

19th to 20th
20th to 21st
21st to 22nd
22nd to 23rd
23rd to 24th Spur
23rd to 24th Curve

“In the last few years, there’s been a couple deaths here on Patterson, so this past January, a UO student was killed crossing Patterson, returning home, and a few years earlier a high school student was killed driving at a fast speed on the stretch of Patterson,” said Marc Schlossberg, a UO professor of city and regional planning and advisor to LiveMove.

“The street design is primarily enhancing and focusing on motor vehicle traffic, so this is creating unsafe speeds because the lane widths are large and there’s no road allocation towards pedestrians or cyclists, so this is creating unsafe living conditions for all those who live nearby,” explained Dean Wisocki, a member of LiveMove and City of Eugene transportation planning intern.

LiveMove’s work was guided by several principles:

  • Quick Build: Maximize use of low-cost paint and posts until resources and experience allow for more permanent design.
  • Clarity: Make logical and clear enhancements, and be open to improvements on our improvements;
  • Protected: Support youth by adding protected bikeways on Patterson.
  • Dedicated: Provide clear, dedicated bus stops that do not impede cars or bikes and enhance reliable transit travel times.
  • Exposure: Reduce crossing distances for pedestrians to enhance safety.
  • Right Sized: Reduce car travel lanes from two to one to better match actual vehicular utilization on Patterson.
  • Filtered: Add selective diverters to reduce conflicts among road users and add safety for all.
  • Best Practices: Use evidence-based designs and create designs within current 36’ right-of-way.
  • Think Place: Treat the street as a place for people as well as for movement.
  • Avoid Clutter: Use design to control speed and safety without need for more signs or signals.
  • Think Big: Good street redesigns are additive; stay focused on big goals while iterating the details.
Learn More

In response, the City of Eugene provided this statement: “We received the UO student orgs’ proposal this afternoon. We are considering all the public input on the traffic safety conversation since Erick’s tragic death in January, and this proposal will be considered as well.

“That said, we have been investigating several options over the months. As we narrow down the feasible designs, we will be talking with stakeholders such as the University of Oregon, The YMCA, Spencer View Apartments and others to finalize a design and then share more broadly. From there we will look toward identifying funding that will allow us to move forward.”

Better together

“We’ve seen connections between groups that had not previously worked together and many new faces join a fight for a more livable city, which gives me a lot of hope,” said Jacob Schmidt, a UO Ph.D. student and GTFF Vice-President for External Relations.

BEST has helped get groups on and off campus together and to keep the discussion about transportation safety moving forward, around Patterson Street and elsewhere.

Further reading

External links

See also

Related information from BEST:

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