1951 to 1972: Roosevelt Freeway proposal

1959 map

1967 map

Whiteaker Bypass

6th / 7th Freeway

WEP route: south of railroad tracks
west 11th connection: no direction connection
Danebo: at grade intersection, severe congestion at this location (no traffic light proposed)
Beltline interchange: no interchange, traffic light controlled intersection, Beltline stays two lanes wide
BLM impacts: proposed before BLM bought most of its parcels, but still would have major impact on these parklands
Seneca intersection: one extra turn lane in each direction (left, right) on each road in each direction of travel
6th / 7th terminus: at grade intersection, westbound traffic congestion would reach "failure" at traffic light

WEP route: part of route relocated north of railroad tracks (Amazon Creek to western terminus) to shift impacts to different parts of the wetlands
Danebo: at grade intersection removed (too close to Beltline interchange), grade separation without any connection (Hyundai traffic would have to use Beltline instead)
Beltline interchange: grade separated interchange approved in 1995 Beltline Environmental Assessment (supposedly separate project)
BLM impacts: greater than Approved Design, more acreage impacted between Danebo and Green Hill roads
Seneca intersection: double left turns on WEP, single left turns on Seneca - a very wide intersection that would be difficult for pedestrians (by ODOT's admission)
6th / 7th terminus: westbound flyover ramp added for 6th to WEP traffic (over 99 / 7th traffic)

Modified Design plus:

• Beltline widening (Highway 99 to West 11th)
• Terry Street extended (Roosevelt to WEP) and
• widening of West 11th (Terry Street to Green Hill road)

Select "No Build" for WEP
Complete Beltline to West 11th
Preserve West 11th as an "expressway" from Commercial Street (east of Beltline) to Fisher Road (west of Green Hill)
Start process to examine West 11th design east of Beltline (the City owned section)

20-53 still included WEP from Seneca Road to Danebo despite repeated statements from FHWA and ODOT that this form of "segmentation" was illegal under federal law. Building two-thirds of WEP would be more illegal than building the whole thing.

The TransPlan amendments enacted in July 2002 included the WEP Modified Design and removed Beltline Phase 3 (Roosevelt to West 11th) and the West 11th widening (Terry to Green Hill) from the transportation budget. Terry Street Extended was not included for addition or removal - some officials claim it was part of WEP, but the 1997 SDEIS stated it was a separate project.

would build WEP from Seneca to Danebo (supposedly only for express buses)
new route for WEP west of Danebo to Green Hill with greater acreage of wetland destruction than WEP
Roosevelt Blvd. extension from Terry Street to new WEP route (specifically prohibited in 2000 West Eugene Wetlands plan)
Bus only expressway parallel to Green Hill Road from Royal Avenue to Eugene Airport
new WEP (cars and buses) from Royal / Green Hill intersection across Oak Hill to Highway 126 at proposed WEP western terminus
This proposal was unveiled to the public at a press conference sponsored by a couple of confused environmentalists who ignored warnings from numerous allies that this "alternative" would be worse than ODOT's proposal. It would have gone through the Royal Blue Organic blueberry farm, more BLM land than WEP, and near or through homes that are not directly threatened by WEP. Despite numerous requests, the sponsors of this strange scenario never explained why they recommended this - even ODOT was surprised by this. Due to overwhelming negative reaction, the proposal was quietly dropped and some of the sponsors have quietly admitted it was a mistake. WEP supporters continue to reference this proposal to claim that even the opponents want a new expressway -- and the Crandall Arambula promoters have declined numerous opportunities to point out that they do not want this.

WEP Modified Alternative plus Beltline Phase 3

Seneca intersection modified to prohibit left turns from WEP to Seneca (Seneca to WEP left turns still allowed), ODOT was unable to design a route that would solve congestion problem created at that intersection,

ODOT turns over maintenance responsibility for WEP east of Beltline to the City due to the inability to meet ODOT's stricter congestion mitigation standards

The "re-evaluation" admitted that Roosevelt at Highway 99 would still be at "failure" in the design year of 2025 whether WEP is built or not -- a reason to shift some of the WEP's construction money toward fixing that dangerous intersection as part of the alternative to the WEP.

One option studied during this time frame was a completely grade separated road (interchanges instead of intersections at all crossings), which would have been at least $200 million.

Alternative A Modified plus a second flyover ramp for eastbound WEP traffic at 7th Avenue terminus
no cost estimate is available

Alternative A Modified west of Seneca
no expressway east of Seneca
no Terry Street extension
no grade separation of Roosevelt from Beltline
no widening of West 11th from Terry to Green Hill
at grade intersections at 6th and 7th Streets (rejected in 1997 and 2005, respectively)
continue WEP traffic onto 5th (eastbound) and 7th (westbound) between Seneca and 99 (rejected in 1985 as unpopular and impractical)
no cost figures available, but it would be cheaper due to the lack of flyover ramps at the eastern terminus and associated business disruptions. However, this is also a form of "segmentation" prohibited by federal law, so the full cost of the eastern terminus will still be required to be included before the Final EIS can be approved.