By Lorraine Berry
I am a writer and occasional journalist, and so as a service, I’ve prepared a press release for an event that is inevitable here in Eugene:
Eugene police reported today that __________, a __-year old pedestrian, was struck and killed on East 33rd Avenue between the cross-streets of Donald and Hilyard.
The driver, ____-year-old _______, was reported by witnesses to have been speeding and distracted before hitting _____, who resided at ____ East 33rd Avenue.
In recent years, a steady stream of speeding motorists use the narrow street daily to save time by not driving the additional three blocks to access Amazon Parkway. Despite cutouts and signs indicating the tiny street is a bike lane, residents report constant traffic doing 10 to 15 miles over the speed limit that have made crossing the street to talk to their neighbors risky.
Neighbors note that it’s now common for traffic attempting to turn left at Hilyard to have created gridlock with long lines of cars backed up and blocking Ferry Street. Neighbors also report that while traffic has heavier periods during the morning commute, it especially swells when parents are dropping and picking up their children at a local school. Despite the presence of small children, those with disabilities and senior citizens, the commute is especially dangerous at school pick-up time.
Parents hurrying to pick their own children up have been seen to narrowly avoid hitting children walking back to their neighborhood homes. Several neighbors reported incidents in which bicyclists using the bike lane have been forced off the road by drivers seeking to pass them.
Several parked cars have been totaled since 2021 after being smashed by errant drivers. Neighbors also report that, despite posted speeds of 25 mph, cars are routinely observed to be driving in excess of 40 mph.
Lorraine Berry, a resident, reported her own multiple calls to the city’s traffic division and department of public works, in addition to speaking with City Councilor Matt Keating. She was assured that the city was aware of the problem, although no plan to ameliorate the danger has been proposed. Multiple neighbors also reported their own contacts with the city and note that there’s been no follow-up.
Unable to spur action from the city, neighbors have posted signs requesting that drivers stop speeding. During warm days, neighbors often shout at passing motorists to slow down and have attempted to get drivers’ attention by blasting speeding cars with garden hoses. Many expressed anger and grief about today’s fatality, noting that they had warned various officials that such an accident had become inevitable, and mourning the victim, who had many friends.
One day, after witnessing the local mail carrier nearly get struck while she was crossing the road, Berry reported that she staged a road sit-in, one in which she wore a hi-visibility vest and sat in the middle of the road, forcing cars to slow down and stay in their lanes. During the incident, neighbors gathered to support her, and were witnesses when a frustrated driver drove into oncoming traffic to pass those who had slowed down.
“Clearly, these drivers’ lives are much more important than those of us who live here,” Berry said. “They’re in obvious rushes and can’t be expected to obey local laws that stipulate yielding to pedestrians or not blocking local intersections. For a city that considers itself progressive, city residents’ lack of empathy and awareness of others in this neighborhood is clear evidence that progressive values only apply when it doesn’t cause inconvenience.”
Several city officials contacted about the tragedy offered condolences to the family of the victim, and said that the driver involved would be prosecuted. They offered no comment when asked if changes would be made to the traffic conditions that have been reported on 33rd Avenue since before 2021.
Lorraine Berry lives in Eugene and is a book critic for the Los Angeles Times.