Eugene Lowers Speed Limits on Four Residential Streets for Vision Zero Safety

Eugene lowered posted speed limits from 30 mph to 25 mph on four residential street segments Friday, March 6, with sign crews expected to begin work this week as part of the city's Vision Zero program to eliminate fatal and serious crashes.

The four affected corridors are Polk Street between Second Avenue and 18th Avenue, Oak Patch Road between 11th Avenue and 18th Avenue, Elmira Road between Highway 99 and North Bertelsen Road, and Maple Street between Roosevelt Boulevard and Elmira Road. Each segment was chosen for distinct reasons, according to city public affairs manager Marion Suitor Barnes.

A recent motorcycle crash on Oak Patch Road directly prompted that corridor's reduction. On Elmira Road and Maple Street, the city had previously installed speed humps and other traffic-calming infrastructure but had never lowered the posted speed limit to match those physical changes, making the reduction a long-overdue formalization of conditions already on the ground.

Polk Street's path to 25 mph is tied to a broader street redesign under active consideration. The city is weighing whether to add bike lanes to that stretch between Second and 18th avenues, and Suitor Barnes said the speed question and the bike-lane question are closely linked. "If we do end up with bike lanes, we'll end up with a reduced speed need there anyway, just for safety reasons," she told Lookout Eugene-Springfield. A final design decision for Polk Street is expected this spring, and the city is currently gathering resident input through an online survey.

Because the Oregon Department of Transportation governs posted speed limits statewide, the city submitted documentation to ODOT to authorize each of the four reductions. Suitor Barnes confirmed the city provided that documentation to the agency.

Residents with questions can reach Suitor Barnes at 541-731-0126. The speed limit changes mark the latest step in Eugene's ongoing Vision Zero effort, which aims to reduce traffic fatalities across the city's street network to zero.