Eugene City Council has unanimously approved the document guiding the city’s infrastructure plans through 2029. The Capital Improvement Program includes $310.7 million in total spending, which comes from a variety of city, county, state, federal and philanthropic funds.
The largest portion of funds, $146.9 million, will go to Eugene’s airport. Transportation will receive $94.3 million.
The CIP includes 128 projects. While it looks ahead six years, it is updated and reapproved every two years, according to the document.
The city estimates construction for its projects will produce about 40,400 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this comes from the transportation program, which emits 23,8000 metric tons, and the airport, which emits 11,300 metric tons and mostly reflects the emissions involved in producing the asphalt used to pave streets and runways.
The most expensive project is the $75 million airport terminal expansion, which will add a third gate called Concourse C in 2026. In addition, there are four projects totaling $41.6 million to repave the asphalt used by airplanes. The Airport Construction fund, which it earns from airport revenue, will pay for the terminal expansion and put $1.6 million toward repaving these runways and aprons, the part of an airport where planes load and unload passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration will pay the remaining $40 million for repavement.
During a Feb. 15 budget meeting where councilors discussed the CIP, Councilor Alan Zelenka spoke in favor of the expansion.
“What happens if you don’t expand the airport? People don’t fly? Some might, but most of them will just drive to Portland which is actually an increase in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that we do,” he said.
The largest project not associated with the airport is the plan to redesign Franklin Boulevard between 11th Avenue and Interstate 5. The leading design will replace three existing traffic stops with multilane roundabouts and add two more roundabouts. It will reduce the number of car lanes to add a second bus lane and create islands separating the car lanes from bikes and pedestrians.
According to the city’s website, the goal of the project is to transform Franklin Boulevard “from an auto-focused state highway to a pleasant, multi-modal urban street that is safe for people walking, biking, riding the bus and driving.”
The project page says that the current Franklin Boulevard can be “unsafe and uncomfortable” for non-drivers and serves as a barrier separating people living on the UO campus and surrounding neighborhoods from the trails adjacent to the Willamette River. According to the city, this project aims to make Franklin Boulevard a “comfortable connector of places, rather than a divider.”
City Engineer Jenifer Willer said her team has been talking with business owners along the corridor to work out their access needs, in response to a question from Budget Committee member Rayna Jackson on what impact the project will have on businesses.
“Our hope is that we’re going to be a benefit to everybody along there whether you’re doing business or just traveling through,” Willer said. “I think that there’s still a lot of work to work out those individual details with the individual property owners.”
The project is planned for 2025 and will cost $35.5 million, $22.6 million of which will come from a federal RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant. The rest of the cost will be split between Eugene, Lane County and Springfield.
Another large project is the city’s Pavement Preservation Program, which allocates $19 million in city funds for general road repairs.
In concurrence with the larger Franklin Boulevard project, the city plans to repave and upgrade the sidewalks on Franklin Boulevard and East Broadway between Walnut and Mill Street at a cost of $4.6 million.
According to the city, the intersection at 18th Avenue and Hilyard Street produces the most cyclist injuries of anywhere in Eugene. To combat this, the city plans to add a bike-specific traffic signal and replace the curb ramps. The $780,000 project will take place next year with $700,000 from the federal government and $80,000 from the city.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the city plans to turn the outer lanes into bus and turn-only lanes. The city said this will reduce speed and improve safety. It also plans to add an additional lit crosswalk and increase lighting at the two existing ones. The changes will come next year. The project will cost $553,000 and be paid for by the state.
The CIP includes city funds for a $500,000 project to replace a wastewater pipe on Franklin Boulevard between 13th Avenue and Walnut Street next year. The city said the pipe is too flat and often clogs.
The CIP allocates $200,000 in city funds toward Parks and Open Space to hire a consultant and direct them and city staff to revise the master plan for Alton Baker park and identify “priority improvements.” It also includes $100,000 to the Stormwater Program to assess improvements to the Alton Baker Canoe Canal.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct spelling errors.
