Posts tagged: Safety

You can’t measure the cost of each lost life. Except we can and do, every time we make choices about how to invest transportation dollars.

The Oregon Department of Transportation will be changing the intersection of 54th Street and Main Street in Springfield. In 2015, a driver ran a red light there, injuring a mother and killing all three of her kids crossing legally in a crosswalk. BEST sees a need to redesign all of Main Street to encourage slower travel speeds.

Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), a.k.a. the Infrastructure Investment and Investment Act (IIJA), states—including Oregon—where 15% or more of traffic deaths are people outside vehicles are required to spend 15% or more of Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds on vulnerable road user safety.

BEST applauds Lane County’s first Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) as the critical first step towards making bicycling safe and practical countywide. Building on an ambitious but compelling vision, the plan sets forth goals, identifies a countywide bicycle network, selects bikeway facilities to build out the network, divides these into discrete projects, and prioritizes these as near-, medium-, or long-term.

Through May 3, Lane County is accepting comments on this draft plan for rural roads and paved paths outside of the Eugene-Springfield urban area.

Then county commissioners will consider amending the Lane County Transportation System Plan (TSP) to incorporate the bicycle network detailed in the plan.

Responding to questions about potential environmental impacts of widening Highway 126 between Veneta and Eugene, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) denied that there were any “that rise to the level of ‘significant.’ ”

AARP has an all new edition of their popular guide for how to assess and report on the safety and walkability of a street, intersection or neighborhood.

Calling road fatalities an “unacceptable” crisis, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced a National Roadway Safety Strategy with an ambitious goal: zero traffic deaths.

1000 Friends of Oregon and 350 Eugene recently sent a memo to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) questioning a streamlined environmental review of plans to widen Highway 126 between Veneta and Eugene.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently claimed they are not allowed to request public comments on potential environmental impacts before seeking federal approval to widen Highway 126 between Veneta and Eugene.

UPDATE 1/10/2021: BEST, like the City of Eugene, is now out of yard signs. But you might know a neighbor who has an extra one. To promote safe streets, request your free “20 is Plenty”…