FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Speed Limit Lowered on Bailey Hill Road

The speed limit on Bailey Hill Road between 18th Avenue and Warren Street has been lowered to 30 mph, effective immediately.

The State Speed Board lowered the speed limit from 35 mph in response to requests from the City of Eugene for a lower speed limit on the busy four-lane street that abuts Churchill High School, the Churchill Youth Sports Park and Kennedy Middle School and also serves as a major transportation corridor for much of southwest Eugene.

The reduced speed limit on Bailey Hill Road is one of several steps taken following the death of 10-year-old Vaclav Hajek, who was killed crossing Bailey Hill Road on August 27, 2007. Other strategies developed by a local citizen safety group and City staff include a proposed redesign of the roadway to reduce the number of lanes pedestrians must cross and educational efforts aimed at encouraging safe sharing of the roadway by all users, including motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.

To help reach that goal, the City in late July applied for an Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Program grant for approximately $360,000 to provide safer crosswalks, landscaped medians and wider bike lanes on Bailey Hill Road.

“No single action, including the lowering of the speed limit, will solve the safety issues on Bailey Hill Road,” said Tom Larsen, the City’s traffic engineer. “Resolving a complex set of issues like this requires a combination of education, enforcement and engineering.”