More than 10 years ago, the Lane Transit District decided to begin designing a new bus line that could guarantee travel times comparable to light rail at a fraction of the price.
After years of brainstorming, designing and planning by LTD officials, construction started on Franklin Boulevard for the new Emerald Express, or EmX, bus line early this year.
The multi-million dollar project promises quicker service, reduced traffic and more efficient travel. Nevertheless, some local businesses have suffered from continued construction while others are optimistic about the system’s potentially energizing effect on the area.
The concept behind EmX is a system called “bus rapid transit.” It emulates light rail but uses elongated buses in place of expensive rail vehicles, and it runs on pavement in its own lane instead of on train tracks.
Brightly painted 60-foot vehicles, which cost approximately $900,000 each, will run on rubber tires like a bus, but the system will resemble light rail because of features such as hybrid-electric propulsion, a quiet engine and doors for boarding on both sides from raised station platforms. Traffic will no longer delay bus schedules and buses will not hold-up other vehicles while passengers board.
Construction crews are currently building two parts of the project: the permanent lanes for the future buses and two commuter stations at Agate Street and Walnut Street on Franklin, said Andy Vobora, director of marketing and communications for LTD.
The project is on schedule to open Dec. 17, and will undergo vehicle and lane testing before full operation begins, Vobora said.
Some Franklin Boulevard businesses have already felt the effects of the EmX construction. Andrea Rutherford, the front desk manager of Days Inn, 1859 Franklin Blvd., said business has decreased since construction began.
“Since the construction started, we’ve had a fall-off this month,” she said. “We’re not seeing the numbers we expected.”
Rutherford said most companies expect this dip in business when construction is nearby. Accordingly, she said, the number of “off-the-street” customers has decreased due to the roadwork.
Just down Franklin Boulevard from Rutherford’s hotel is the Franklin Inn and Suites. General Manager Tina Patel said there has been about a 10 percent decrease in business since construction began and said her hotel has been experiencing some of Rutherford’s issues.
“We don’t see that much walking-in like we did last year,” she said. “During the daytime, it’s hard for people to make those left turns.”
Although many of the hassles businesses face today will disappear when construction begins to wrap up in mid-summer, the project will make many permanent changes to traffic, including a new University entrance one block east of Agate Street for drivers heading westbound on Franklin Boulevard.
The EmX will essentially replace the popular No. 11 route of the current bus system, Vobora said. Although EmX will have eight fewer stations than the current 18 stops, it will be faster and more consistent, he said. Operating under the system’s current hours, from 6:30 a.m. to about 10:40 p.m., the bus will make stops every 10 to 20 minutes. EmX will be free of charge until LTD begins construction on a sister route along Pioneer Parkway, which would begin in 2009 at the earliest, Vobora said.
“The reason for that is primarily because this segment is in the middle of our system,” Vobora said. “The biggest population around the route are University students whose fares are already paid.”
Local effects, future concerns
Although construction is the most visible disruption to daily life, business owners and community authorities have concerns about when service actually begins.Carolyn Larson, owner of Minit Mart at 536 E. 11th Ave. is worried about the permanent effects that will take hold once the buses start running in front of her convenience store.
“We are stuck with the consequences, whatever that might be,” Larson said.
“I don’t foresee a lot of good coming from this.”
Larson’s business will lose two on-street parking spaces because EmX’s “Franklin corridor,” a four-mile, 10-station stretch that will connect the downtown areas of Eugene and Springfield, will pass directly in front of her store through what was once a parking lane. These spaces were critical to attracting drive-up business: people who park on the street, quickly buy one or two items and leave, she said.
“We’re looking at possibly losing some of our business,” she said. “We have a lot of drive up. Hence the name ‘convenience store.’”
Customers will now have to park behind her store in a “small, cramped alley” to visit the shop.
“I don’t care how good the pricing structure is. When it ceases to be convenient, you will not stop by,” she said. “We have lost the spaces in front of the store, and we will never regain them.”
The Eugene Police Department has its own concerns about EmX. While businesses and customers may be rejoicing over the temporarily free fares, some narcotic unit officials think it may increase the flow and ease of people traveling between Eugene and Springfield to move and distribute illegal drugs.
“As we begin seeing what the effects of that are … our personnel will respond to those changing situations,” said Kerry Delf, EPD public information specialist. “There’s no way to know ahead of time.”
But police are also optimistic about EmX’s potentially traffic-reducing effect on Franklin Boulevard and 11th Avenue.
“There have been days where traffic gets a little hairy down there on Franklin,” Delf said. “That would really be a positive if it could help in that way.”
Mike Ripley of Track Town Pizza, 1809 Franklin Blvd., has been the restaurant’s general manager for eight years. He shared some of Larson’s concerns about parking availability because he has 18 parking spaces for Track Town’s 105 seats.
“The worst thing is that (construction workers) are storing things on the side of the street where people could park,” Ripley said. “Other than that, it’ll be nice when it’s done.”
Some customers have complained that it has been harder to reach Track Town since construction began because two turn lanes have been removed for the EmX bus lane, Ripley said.
“All things considered, it’s been a minor inconvenience,” he said.
But Larson considers her situation much more dire. When customers exit the alley parking lot, Larson said, they would have to negotiate the new, two-way bus lane as well as oncoming traffic on East 11th Avenue.
Additionally, Minit Mart’s vendor parking has been moved to the right of the alley. Larson said if her supplier’s trucks were parked there, drivers would have to edge into the bus lane to see past the trucks. This, she said, is a recipe for disaster.
“When you add the inability to see around a large object, the buses and the traffic, that equals wreck,” she said. “It will be blamed on the driver, but it is not so. It is the design.”
She blamed City Traffic Engineer Tom Larsen for the inflexible parking situation outside her store, but he said removing her on-street parking was the best option given Minit Mart’s situation.
“The on-street parking for those blocks will go away,” he said. “But if we didn’t take away the parking, we would have taken away the front 12 feet of the store.”
Larsen said the city would post signs warning drivers of the oncoming two-way bus traffic, and also said merging into traffic from an alley is inherently risky; other city alleys with nearby parking pose similar situations.
“There is an inherent risk in making those maneuvers,” he said. “I think every alley in town and every side street in town poses somewhat similar problems.”
Larsen said he has made every attempt to help local businesses with their parking situations during construction and beyond.
“We have actually opened up the future (EmX) lane for temporary parking,” he said of
the lane in front of Minit Mart. “We took out the parking meters and signed it for two-hour parking.”
LTD gave its construction workers coupons to nearby businesses in an effort to promote the area’s economy.
Although Larson appreciated these gestures, she said, it was not enough.
“The people have been good to work with and sympathetic, but the bottom line is they’re taking it away,” she said. “Eventually we will adapt to it, but I don’t know how many people will have to get hurt first.”
She also had reservations about further EmX plans. After the Franklin corridor is completed, construction on the Pioneer Parkway corridor will begin.
Beginning at the Franklin corridor’s Springfield end, the Pioneer Parkway corridor will run north, connecting places such as the Gateway Mall, the post office, PeaceHealth and the Symantec offices.
“What is going to happen to the businesses out there?” she said. “I’m looking at my little microcosm over here, but you multiply that on Gateway and Harlow road and you’re looking at a huge, huge impact on the economy of this city.”
The light at the end of the lane
Both Rutherford and Patel have high hopes for when EmX is in full operation; they said the free fare in the beginning would improve their hotels, but they were unsure of the project’s effects in the long run.
LTD’s Vobora said even though construction may put temporary strain on nearby businesses, EmX would have long-lasting, positive effects on the area.
“There’ll be new opportunities,” he said. “An enhanced level of transit is good for their area and their employees and people getting access to their business.”
Rutherford said EmX’s free service period could help her business by increasing customer satisfaction.
“I’m excited about them giving free bus service for a while,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a huge benefit for our guests to be able to say, ‘Hey, you can get on this bus and ride straight into downtown for free.’”
“It’ll be good for business around here, so we have to put up with it,” Patel said.
LTD is also holding a public overview of the EmX project’s past, present and future. The public will have the opportunity to ask the project manager questions concerning EmX at the meeting, which will be held at LTD’s administrative offices, 3500 E. 17th Ave., at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Although construction may still be underway during next fall’s football season, typically a busy season for Franklin Boulevard hotels and businesses, both Rutherford and Patel said they aren’t worried.
“Nothing will stop the Duck fans,” Rutherford said. “We just have so many people wanting to stay here way beyond what we have. (The construction) will never hurt us.”
Patel said even though Franklin Inn and Suites isn’t a franchise hotel, she’ll never be short on business during the football season thanks to dedicated fans swarming to Eugene for the home games.
“I think the Duck people are going to come anyways,” she said, laughing.
Rutherford said she will take the project at face value until she has a better understanding of the its impact.
“I know in the next 15 or 20 years they have huge plans for this area,” Rutherford said. “When I see the big picture, I’m sure I’ll understand.”