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practices that benefit the environment. In turn, program partners pledge to follow the program guidelines and provide <br /> their customers with information about keeping stormwater and local waterways clean. As the City promotes this <br /> program, participating partners will be recognized through newspaper ads and other forms of recognition. <br /> "urrently, nine carpet care companies have signed on to the partnership program. The next workshop is scheduled for <br /> ...„,,arch 13 from 4 to 5 p.m. at 858 Pearl Street. Invitations to attend will be sent out to carpet cleaning and janitorial <br /> businesses. For more information about the Clean Water Business program, please call Kathy Eva, Public Information <br /> Specialist for the Stormwater Management Program, at 682-2739 or via e-mail at kathy.a.eva@ci.eugene.or.us. <br /> ODOT Proposes New Heavy Truck Detour Route That Avoids Downtown Eugene <br /> Public Works Transportation staff met this week with ODOT, other local officials and trucking industry representatives to <br /> discuss alternative routes for heavy trucks that need to be detoured around the 1-5 bridges over the McKenzie and <br /> Willamette rivers. The detour is necessary because of cracking found in recent inspections of the two bridges. After <br /> much discussion, the proposed detour route has been substantially changed from the previous proposal, which would <br /> have sent the heavy trucks past the university on Franklin Boulevard, through downtown Eugene on 6th and 7th <br /> avenues, and up to Coburg via Coburg Road. <br /> The new proposal is to re-route trucks as much as possible around the Eugene-Springfield area. From Portland <br /> southbound trucks would be directed to 1-84 and Highway 97. At the Corvallis exit, southbound trucks would be directed <br /> on Highway 20 west to Highway 99, south to Beltline, east to 1-5, south to Highway 126, and east to Highway 97. <br /> Northbound heavy trucks are already prohibited at Canyonville and are routed to Highway 97 north at Weed, California. <br /> For northbound trucks entering the 1-5 corridor north of Canyonville, heavy loads would be diverted from 1-5 to Highway <br /> 58 east to Highway 97 north. Under this detour plan,the only heavy truck traffic in Eugene would be locally originating <br /> heavy loads that need to use alternate routes to avoid the 1-5 bridges. <br /> ODOT is looking at the replacement/upgrade of the Highway 126 bridges at the Willamette River to provide alternate <br /> routes to Springfield as well as accelerating the replacement of the 1-5/McKenzie River bridges. ODOT is continuing to <br /> work with other cities affected by the detour rotes for their acceptance of the new plan. Work will continue this week on a <br /> 1al signing plan. These revisions may push the implementation date back to March 5. For more information, contact <br /> Traffic Engineer Tom Larsen at 682-8450. <br /> Parks Staff Present at National Conference this Week <br /> Earlier this week, Robin Hostick, landscape architect in Parks and Open Space Planning, and Sarah Medary, a Parks <br /> Maintenance supervisor, attended the National Institute of Parks and Grounds Maintenance conference in Reno, Nevada. <br /> Medary and Hostick were invited to present at the conference after giving a presentation called "Maintenance-Friendly <br /> Park Design"at the Oregon Recreation and Parks Association (ORPA) annual conference last fall. Their presentation <br /> highlights the efforts the Parks and Open Space Division has invested in building cooperation between the Parks <br /> Maintenance and Parks Planning sections in order to increase the efficiency of maintaining Eugene's parks and garner <br /> public support for park projects. <br /> Medary and Hostick shared the handbook they designed about maintenance-friendly park design and the maintenance <br /> plans that are now created for every newly constructed park. The workshop, which was attended by mainly parks <br /> maintenance managers and some parks planners, was very well received. According to Hostick and Medary, these <br /> issues are widespread in parks organizations across the country, and the Eugene Parks and Open Space Division is at <br /> the leading edge of finding innovative, effective solutions. <br /> Medary returns from the conference with information to share with colleagues about a maintenance tracking database <br /> tool that was demonstrated at the conference. Parks staff in Eugene is currently in the process of creating such a tool to <br /> inventory the city's parks. This type of tool is essential in helping track and manage a park system more efficiently- <br /> ultimately enabling parks staff to calculate how much time a new park will take to properly maintain and how much it will <br /> cost. For more information about the conference or presentation, call Medary at 682-4824 or Hostick at 682-4915. <br /> I <br /> EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 <br /> cc021303.wpd <br /> February 14,2003 <br />