Victory Lapping: Construction part 1: Out with the old...

If you're a UO student who left Eugene for the summer, you'll likely notice that the west edge of campus looks drastically different when you return this fall.

Construction began Wednesday on a new LTD station that will serve the UO campus beginning September 2011. There will be dedicated boarding platforms, a bigger shelter, more bicycle parking and space for street vendors.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

At the same time, the City of Eugene will be completing road work projects on East 13th Avenue and on Alder Street designed to improve the road surface and create a safer route for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

Both LTD and the city seem to have put a lot of consideration, coordination and planning into these projects to ensure minimal disruption to regular access to the affected roads and to preserve access to area businesses, many of which already struggle during summer due to their proximity to the now-empty UO campus.

The four routes that used to serve University Station north of 13th Avenue (28 to Eugene Station, 76 UO/Warren, 81 LCC/Harris and 98 Cottage Grove - the 79x is not affected as it does not run during summer session) will use a temporary stop set up just south of 13th Avenue (accessed via 14th Avenue).

The buses that usually use University Station South during summer (73 and the outbound 28) will continue to do so, except when the City of Eugene construction restricts LTD access to 13th Avenue; then, the buses will use 14th Avenue to access a temporary stop set up between 14th and 15th avenues.

The construction activities taking place on Kincaid between 11th and 13th avenues have blocked off about half the width of the street, although the street is still open to one-way traffic as usual. On-street parking on Kincaid between 11th and 13th is unavailable for the duration of the project.

The first phase of construction (lasting from Wednesday, June 15, to Friday, June 17) involved fencing off the area, removing eight trees (three new trees will be planted at the new station, and LTD will contribute funds to the city to plant at least 10 more new trees around town) and tearing out the parking lot adjacent to the University of Oregon computing center.