The River Road and Irving intersection under construction In Eugene Oregon. (Miles Cull/Emerald)

Eugene locals and visitors alike are driving into new territory in the new year after the completion of River Road’s “protected” intersection.

Construction on the River Road intersection at Irving Road and Hunsaker Lane was completed in late November 2024, nearly two years after it was originally set to be completed. The renovation made it the first protected intersection in Eugene and was implemented to address concerns regarding the safety of drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians due to a lack of bike lanes and multiple dangerous junctions.

The new intersection includes the addition of dedicated turn lanes for all left turns to prevent drivers from turning into oncoming traffic. The project also added protected bike lanes, widened roadways and upgraded sidewalks.

The renovation added red, raised truck aprons, which are raised areas in the road that provide larger vehicles more room to navigate turns without hitting the curb. In this case, they also encourage drivers to take considerably slower, sharper right turns when navigating around the aprons on curb corners. 

Marion Barnes, public affairs manager for City of Eugene Public Works, said that the expectation is to slow down right turns, provide better lines of sight and eliminate the “right hook” crash that occurs when drivers turn right and collide with a pedestrian or biker with the right of way. 

In the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan adopted in March 2019, the intersection at River Road and Hunsaker Lane was identified as a high-crash location. Many driving, biking and pedestrian-related deaths or injuries at Vision Zero high crash streets were shown in the reports according to Oregon Department of Transportation crash data from 2007 to 2015. 

However, some residents have had trouble with the raised truck apron corner, with complaints deriving from the additional barrier. 

“You can’t see that [the curb] is raised when you’re driving toward it until you go over it,” Emily Nelson, a Dari-Mart employee, said. “I think it was kind of pointless. I think it was just a waste of money on things that could have been fixed in different areas.” 

Barnes said the most complaints she has received are from drivers and people having trouble with the raised truck apron corner. However, she emphasized the importance of speed helping to reinforce the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.

“Slowing down is the number one way to keep people safe. It is always speed that causes these accidents, so we just need people to slow down, turn a little more sharply and stay in their lane,” Barnes said. “Nobody likes to be told to slow down, but slower is safer.”

During construction, modified traffic control and pedestrian access routes were implemented and the city urged commuters to exercise patience when traveling through the area during the period of construction. 

The project caused some frustration among people in the area as large equipment occupied space during construction and impacted traffic patterns. 

Barnes said that the protected intersection will serve as an example and expects it to take some getting used to.  

“We’ll give it some time and then we’ll go out and probably do a community survey in that area and see how people think it’s working,” Barnes said.

Looking ahead, Barnes said the city will make more improvements to Hunsaker Lane such as adding sidewalks and refining the groundwork and safety of the protected bike lanes at this River Road intersection. Those bike lanes will eventually connect to the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System that runs through Eugene.

“We needed that [River and Irving Road] intersection to sort of join these two areas of bike paths in a safe way that previously hadn’t been joined together,” Barnes said. “So this is one step in this bigger picture project that’s bringing more active transportation to that northern River Road area.”