Commissioners adopt

new district lines
Lane County Commissioners decided on a redistricting plan for the county on Tuesday morning. County spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said the commissioners had to adopt a new district lines by today to accommodate the population shifts shown in the 2000 Census.
“The population has shifted enough so that districts would need to have new boundaries drawn,” Kletzok said.
The population in each new district is within 1 percent of the population in the other districts, she said.
Though the redistricting will go into effect in 30 days, Kletzok said the commissioners who have been in office will remain in office until the next election. Commissioners are elected by district but represent the whole county, she said.
Law requires that district lines be redrawn six months before the primary election, which will take place on May 21 of 2002.

— Lindsay Buchele

Citizens discuss Broadway reopening

Drivers won’t be able to use Broadway until next school year, but more than 40 people showed up at a meeting to discuss plans for the reopening of the downtown street.
This September, Eugene voters directed the city to reopen Broadway, a street which has been closed to automobile traffic for 30 years. City planners, elected officials, contractors and community members met Tuesday night in the lobby of the Atrium at 99 W. 10th Ave. for an open house to discuss the new project. The two-hour meeting started at 5 p.m. and gave the public a chance to comment on the conceptual street design for Broadway drafted by a team of five architects.
The plan opens up the last three pedestrian blocks of Broadway, between Oak and Charnelton Streets, while keeping cars traveling at a low speed. The street will be only 20 feet wide at intersections and although it will widen by midstreet, a median of trees will be included in the center.
The meeting was held by the planning department in anticipation of its role in determining the final layout of Broadway.
“The planning commission, in this instance, is the decision maker,” Eugene planning director Jan Childs said. Usually the city council makes final decisions on road construction taking place in Eugene, but in this case the council delegated authority to the commission, Childs said.
The planning team working on the project will consider suggestions made at Tuesday’s meeting before presenting the project to the planning commission Dec. 10.

— Brook Reinhard