Beginning Wednesday, March 4th, a significant disruption to one of Eugene’s main thoroughfares begins. KLCC’s Brian Bull reports on the latest ODOT construction project.
From March 4th until the end of April, the southbound Delta Highway and Valley River Center on-ramp to westbound I-105 will be closed.
Lou Torres is an ODOT spokesman. He says this will be to seismically upgrade a bridge and bridge ramps.
“And it’s all really part of the I-105 Beltline Delta change/interchange project, which we’ve been working on for a number of months," he says.
"So the detour that folks will maybe want to use will be southbound Delta Highway to the Valley River Center off-ramp, then turn left over Delta Highway and then turn right and take Country Club Road back to the westbound I-105.”
Torres says besides planning an alternate route, travelers can also consider walking, biking, carpooling, or public transit.
The project will take eight weeks, and will help the bridge and ramps be more resilient against natural disasters, including the anticipated Cascadia event.
“Nothing is guaranteed, y’know," says Torres. "We’ve never been through one of these Cascadia Subduction earthquakes, so we know it’s going to be a severe earthquake and it can be very damaging.
"So we’re trying to do the best we can in identifying bridges that are key routes for people, life routes for folks. And we’re trying to reinforce and try and support these bridges as much as we can.”
The earthquake is projected to hit a 9.0 magnitude and affect much of the Pacific Northwest region.
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