University of Oregon Student Group Celebrates a First-of-Its-Kind Bike Path In Eugene

A weeklong celebration marks the opening of the 13th Avenue Bikeway in Eugene, Oregon, replete with group rides and livestream events, reports Alex Notman Cipolle. 

"In the history of the University of Oregon and city of Eugene, there had never been a plan to use East 13th Avenue as a thoroughfare connecting town and gown," writes Notman Cipolle. But now, the two-way protected bike path and 23 bike signals provide a means of safe passage between downtown Eugene and the University of Oregon campus. 

The project came together under the visioning and guidance of a student transportation and sustainability group called LiveMove. When LiveMove completed a study showing that "a large percentage of cyclists were using unsafe workarounds to reach downtown from campus, like riding on sidewalks or biking the wrong way on what was then a one-way bike lane," it became clear that Eugene needed a safer solution. 

The group presented their bikeway redesign concept to city hall and received a $150,000 donation from a couple who lost a child to a bike crash on 13th Avenue. 

The bikeway, now realized, is the only protected urban bikeway in Eugene, according to one of the bikeway's designers Reed Dunbar. 

LiveMove will host transportation and planning expert Tamika Butler for a livestream address on "issues related to the built environment, equity, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, organizational behavior, and change management" on Wednesday, October 28, 7 p.m.