In front of George Cole’s family-owned furniture store on West 11th Avenue, the message to anyone passing by is clearly spelled out in black and white and emphasized in red: “No Build EmX.”
“We’re not opposing bus service,” Cole explained. “We’re opposing this big expenditure right now when the economy can’t afford it, and it’s not meeting the needs of the people.”
At issue in this contentious debate is whether the Lane Transit District should expand its EmX bus route to the West 11th Avenue corridor, where a myriad of businesses lie just outside of the boundaries of residential neighborhoods.
“We think it’s a stumbling block to the future,” Cole said. “They’re cutting bus routes for people who really want the bus so that they are not in a deficit position. We just think they need to change the routes … and have buses that serve more people that want them.”
The proposal to expand the EmX bus service to the West Eugene corridor is a part of a regional transportation plan that was adopted in 2001, LTD spokesperson Andy Vobora said. Although the plan did not specifically target the West 11th Avenue corridor, Vobora said LTD began to consider it as a viable EmX route after receiving recommendations from the Eugene city council to conduct studies in that particular area.
Vobora said the project could be in operation as early as 2015. In all, Vobora said the expansion route is projected to cost nearly $100 million dollars and would be funded through a combination of federal, state and local general funds specifically designated for transportation purposes.
Cole, who has owned Cole’s Furniture for 50 years, said the EmX would not meet the needs of the area and may exacerbate the economic strain on businesses by inhibiting the traffic flow into the area during the project’s construction period. To solve the problem, Cole said the anti-build group Our Money Our Transit is pushing to run a smaller bus in traffic to meet the needs of the people who want it.
“It works at the University of Oregon, because it’s a school bus for the students, but we don’t have anything out here,” Cole said. “We’re already having to struggle in the economy, so we don’t need anymore losses to hit our businesses.”
In this battle, Cole is not alone in the dispute. According to Our Money Our Transit’s website , 64 businesses and local residents are touted as supporters of the anti-expansion campaign. Cole also estimates that he has distributed nearly 100 signs to people who have requested them. Although Cole said he has helped to fund the creation of the signs, many of the supporters have taken on the cost themselves.
Not everybody agrees with the “no build” campaign. Live Move president Nick Garcia, a University community and regional planning graduate student, said the extension project would not only decrease the amount of traffic congestion in the area, but also reduce the amount of carbon emission in the area that contributes to climate change.
“I think transit is really important because the current way we move around is through single-occupancy automobiles, which is really unsustainable,” Garcia said. “It’s really dangerous, caused local pollution and causes climate change… so the more we can move to a better public transportation system, the better.”
Garcia also said the EmX extension would “improve the access to a lot of the businesses for students” and community members as well, especially since the area is expected to “experience a lot of growth in the coming years.”
The group’s movement has been garnering significant support over the past several months. According to an online petition being circulated by Live Move, 262 people had registered as of Thursday. The petition recognizes bus rapid transit as “an important transit option in our community, and particularly that the new EmX line is vital to increasing the livability of West Eugene.”
Live Move’s efforts dovetail the ASUO Senate’s unanimous passage of a resolution on Wednesday in support of the EmX expansion project.
“The ASUO Senate … expresses its firm support for the proposed extension of the Emerald Express service along the West 11th corridor,” the resolution said. “The ASUO Senate urges the Mayor Piercy and the Eugene City Council to approve this extension.”
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EmX expansion faces community opposition, support
Daily Emerald
November 21, 2010
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