Eugene begins phased rebuild of Hilyard Street, major traffic disruptions expected

South Eugene drivers are already feeling the first block-by-block shutdowns on Hilyard Street, where crews moved into the stretch between 40th Avenue and 38th Avenue and began stripping the road surface, tilling the base and mixing in cement slurry before paving later.

The work is part of Eugene’s Hilyard Street Traffic Calming Project, funded by the 2017 Street Bond and Traffic Calming fund. City materials say the Hilyard portion should be finished by the end of summer 2026, and the larger package that includes Alder Street and 24th Avenue is scheduled to wrap by summer 2026.

The rebuild covers Hilyard from 34th Avenue to 40th Avenue, where the city says pavement has deteriorated under age and traffic loading. Along with new pavement, the project calls for ADA-compliant reconstruction of sidewalk access ramps, speed cushions between 36th Avenue and 40th Avenue, a curb extension and crosswalk on the north side of 37th Avenue, and a wider shared-use path near Tugman Park.

Travel on the corridor is expected to stay tight while the work moves forward. City guidance says vehicle access on Hilyard and Alder Street will be limited to non-through traffic during reconstruction, and people walking should expect detours and some temporarily closed crossings. For anyone trying to cross south Eugene this week, the practical answer is simple: plan another route before reaching the 34th-to-40th Avenue work zone.

The impact will be felt most by people who live along Hilyard, by park users heading to Tugman Park, and by anyone who relies on the street as a cut-through between south Eugene neighborhoods. Tugman Park, which sits west of Hilyard Street between 36th Avenue and 38th Avenue, is one of Eugene’s largest neighborhood parks. Its first parcel was purchased in 1939, when the site was known as South Amazon Park, before it was renamed for William M. Tugman, who edited The Register-Guard from 1927 to 1954.

The city’s longer-term goal is to make that stretch of Hilyard less hostile to people outside a car. Officials have tied the project to safety improvements already outlined for the corridor, including curb bump-outs at 37th Avenue and a wider shared-use path near the park, changes meant to answer long-running concerns about walking safety on Hilyard Street. For now, though, the payoff will come with months of disrupted access while crews rebuild the street one block at a time.