Some Eugene residents are concerned that the city’s leaf program puts them at risk, and they’re not going to take it falling down.
The city allows residents to drop their leaves into streets and bike lanes and — according to a story published in Sunday’s Register Guard — some locals want that policy changed because it’s dangerous for bike traffic.
Sound familiar? It should. Many Portlanders have also expressed concern that leaf piles on street shoulders are a safety hazard because they create slippery, dangerous conditions for someone operating a bicycle.
Here in Portland, Mayor-elect Adams has proposed a “leaf tax” to have some neighborhoods begin paying for their own clean-up, but the issue of not piling them in the street to begin with hasn’t been officially challenged.
In Eugene, leaders from bike advocacy group GEARS (Greater Eugene Area Riders) are pushing their city council to abandon the leaf program altogether — in the name of bike safety.
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From the Register-Guard:
They (bike advocates) say the program, intended to protect water quality and prevent street flooding caused by clogged gutters, is a danger to the growing community of bike commuters who commit to riding through the winter.
A spokesman for Eugene Public Works told the paper that this has only become an issue “in recent years” as the number of people riding bicycles in the city has grown.
That same spokesman said he thinks the benefits of recycling all the leaf waste is a “perk that outweighs disadvantages of the program.”
But those “disadvantages” says one woman quoted in the story, could be fatal:
“It’s only a four-month program, but it only takes one swerve to injure or kill a cyclist.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Can any of our Eugene readers chime in with more info?
— Read the full story in the Eugene Register Guard.
(Thanks to reader John A. for the heads up on this.)