Polk Street Traffic Calming

Polk Street and 24th Avenue Traffic Calming Construction

The City of Eugene plans to construct traffic calming speed cushions on Polk Street and 24th Avenue this summer. On Polk Street, between 24th and 28th avenues, four speed cushions will be installed to replace worn rumble strips. On 24th Avenue, between Chambers and Friendly streets, seven speed cushions will be installed to address speeding traffic.

For years, the traffic calming chicanes on Polk Street formed by rumble strips, tubular makers, and concrete planters have been in a state of disrepair. Since this original installation, traffic calming techniques in Eugene have evolved to allow for new tools that help reduce speeding traffic while maintaining access for emergency vehicles on some of our more heavily traveled neighborhood streets. Speed Cushions are similar to Speed Humps and are 3-inches high, 14-feet long for the width of the street, and also have cut-outs for the wheel-path of emergency vehicles. On Polk Street, Speed Cushions are proposed at the locations of the four existing chicanes. In the proposal, the rumble strips would be removed and replaced with Speed Cushions while the concrete planters would remain.

Choosing a Design

Sometime in late June, there will be a test of three speed cushion designs on 24th Avenue to evaluate which best meets the needs of Lane Transit District buses and emergency vehicles. Following the test, permanent construction of the traffic calming on both 24th Avenue and Polk Street is expected to occur between mid-July and the end of August.

Community Engagement

On October 19, 2016, a community meeting was held to review a proposal for traffic calming on Polk Street (between 24^th Avenue and 28^th Avenue) and 24^th Avenue (between Chambers Street and Friendly Street) to address speeding traffic. At the meeting, traffic calming proposals were reviewed and comments received. View the Presentation Materials.