City to answer your questions about Polk Street bike lanes July 14
2 min read
from Marion Suitor, Eugene Public Works
Community members are encouraged to attend a community meeting regarding the Polk Street bike lanes from 6-7 p.m. July 14 at The Faith Center, 1410 13th Ave.
In late 2025, the city of Eugene proposed bike lanes along Polk Street from 2nd Avenue to 18th Avenue. Community members were invited to attend public meetings, take a project survey and share input and feedback about the proposed bike lanes with city transportation planning team staff.
This community input—in addition to goals, best practices, operational needs and budget—helped shape the design decision for Polk Street.
The meeting will share the results of the Polk Street survey, explain how the city made the design decision, and preview the upcoming changes:
- Install buffered bike lanes and remove on-street parking on Polk Street from 18th Avenue to the alleyway between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue.
- Preserve on-street parking on Polk Street between 2nd Avenue and 5th Avenue Alley.
- Add neighborhood greenway elements to Polk Street between 2nd Avenue and 5th Avenue Alley, potentially including but not limited to sharrows, signage, speed cushions and traffic circles.
- Repair areas of poor pavement along Polk Street between 2nd Avenue and 18th Avenue.
- Make minor improvements to the Fern Ridge Path crossing of Polk Street by adding signage, striping, street lighting and potentially removing vegetation to improve sight lines.
- Add parking bays to select areas on Polk Street between 7th Avenue and 18th Avenue as budget allows.
“Most transportation projects include tradeoffs, and Polk Street was no different,” said Catherine Rohan, transportation planner for the city of Eugene. “Removing parking is never an easy decision, but adding bike lanes to Polk Street reflects what we heard from many community members and supports city goals around transportation safety and comfort.”
The Polk Street bike lanes project will now move from the planning phase into the engineering phase, in which project elements will continue to be refined. Simultaneously, staff will work through the administrative process to remove on-street parking.
Construction is planned for summer 2027.
The Polk Street project is funded by the 2022 Street Repair Bond and local transportation system development charges.
