Fatal crash closes River Road in north Eugene for hours

A fatal crash closed both directions of River Road between Lindgren Lane and Rosetta Avenue for several hours Saturday, forcing drivers, transit riders and nearby residents to reroute through north Eugene while police investigated the scene.

Eugene police issued the traffic alert May 2 and told motorists to avoid the corridor as first responders worked the crash site. The Eugene Police Department later confirmed that one person died. One local report identified the victim as a bicyclist, and another described the scene as a collision between a pickup and a bicyclist at River Road and Rosetta Avenue. Lanes reopened later in the day.

The shutdown hit a busy stretch of River Road that serves as a main north Eugene connector near the city’s Urban Growth Boundary. Even a temporary closure there can quickly spill into nearby streets, affecting neighborhood trips, errands, and transit movement through the corridor. For people trying to cross or travel along River Road near Rosetta Avenue, the closure turned a normal Saturday into a detour around an active emergency scene.

The crash also landed in a corridor long marked by safety concerns. City and county crews recently changed speed limit signs on River Road, making the stretch from Azalea Drive to Beacon Drive 35 mph instead of 45 after a public hearing and earlier fatal crashes raised alarms about the road’s design and traffic speed. A December 2024 fatal crash on River Road also prompted neighbors to push for speed reductions.

That history has made River Road a focus of broader safety planning. Lane Transit District’s River Road and Highway 99 Corridor Study is examining ways to improve safety, reliability and connections, including better crossings, bikeways and intersection changes. Eugene’s Vision Zero effort is also aimed at eliminating transportation-related deaths and serious injuries, a goal that feels far from reach when another fatal crash shuts down one of the city’s most heavily traveled corridors.

The city’s crash data underscores the scale of the problem. Eugene recorded 50 fatal crashes and 51 deaths in the 2022-2024 period, compared with 21 fatal crashes in 2019-2021. Saturday’s death on River Road added another painful reminder that in north Eugene, one collision can reshape traffic, safety concerns and daily life in a matter of minutes.