Project aims to fix Beltline bottleneck

Call it a green light to begin dealing with Lane County's worst traffic problem.

The Oregon Transportation Commission on Friday approved spending $20 million to make improvements to the Delta Highway/Randy Papé Beltline interchange in north Eugene. The work will start next spring.

Construction will make major changes to the interchange, including the building of a second overpass over Beltline, reconfiguring the onramp to southbound Delta Highway, and removing a loop ramp onto Delta that now frequently backs up with vehicles and creates dangerous merging conditions.

After years of planning, Oregon Department of Transportation officials are glad to get money to do the work. However, they acknowledge that the interchange improvements won’t do much to ease the daily traffic backups on Beltline as it crosses the Willamette River, just west of Delta Highway.

"This is the first step in overall improvements planned for Beltline, moving it from a 1960s rural highway to one that serves our transportation needs now and in the future,” ODOT spokeswoman Angela Beers Seydel said.

With the Delta interchange dumping ever-increasing numbers of vehicles onto Beltline, the stretch near the river handles upwards of 90,000 vehicles a day, routinely clogging up with cars during morning and afternoon rush hours.

The Delta interchange was built along with Beltline in the 1960s in the then-rural area of Eugene. The northbound lanes of the three-quarter cloverleaf interchange are now often overloaded with vehicles, especially on weekday afternoons. In addition, the outdated interchange with its relatively short on- and offramps give motorists little room to get on or off Beltline, which can create dangerous conditions as drivers merge or change lanes, according to ODOT.

These conditions make the area one of the most collision-prone corridors in the state, with most crashes occurring when a vehicle hits the rear of another because of sudden stops or merging. The many crashes routinely contribute to miles-long traffic backups on Beltline.

ODOT engineers are working on long-term plans to help deal with the problems, including widening the existing Beltline bridge over the Willamette River and constructing a new bridge north of the existing one. Other major changes would take place west of the river at River Road, River Avenue and Division Avenue. But the major roadway improvements could cost upwards of $300 million, and funding has yet to be identified. That means such work — and relief for motorists — is years away.

North Eugene City Councilor Mike Clark called the interchange work a "good start," even though final plans and funding to deal with the region's worst traffic bottleneck have yet to be found. 

"After a lot of years on the ODOT steering committee and the presentations and work on multiple redesign options, we haven’t yet gotten to the real fix," he said. "But I’m sure glad we’re getting started with some solid improvements."

Beers Seydel said the Delta Highway/Beltline interchange project is an initial step toward the overall goal of easing congestion on the corridor and enhancing motorist safety.

"Improvements to the intersection at Beltline and Delta Highway are going to make travel safer by getting rid of the weaving and merging that go on as people go from one road to the other," she said. "While it won’t eliminate the backups on Beltline, these improvements should help traffic move more smoothly and safely."

Some of the most visible changes at the interchange will include the construction of a new overpass over Beltline dedicated exclusively to taking vehicles onto westbound Beltline. The overpass will connect to a new two-lane loop onramp. A traffic signal will allow vehicles to merge one at a time onto Beltline.

The existing overpass will continue to take both northbound and southbound Delta traffic over Beltline, similar to what it does now, though northbound traffic will be limited to one lane, down from the present two lanes.

A major change will eliminate the loop ramp that now takes northbound Delta motorists off Beltline. That ramp off eastbound Beltline often causes vehicles to stack up as they wait to merge onto Delta at the existing overpass.

With that ramp gone, northbound Delta motorists instead will get off Beltline at the same exit as motorists heading to southbound Delta Highway.

The rebuilt southbound Delta onramp will direct northbound motorists to an intersection near the existing overpass. Northbound motorists will make a left turn at a traffic signal onto the existing overpass to make their way to Green Acres Road and North Delta Highway.

Motorists taking the ramp to southbound Delta won't have to stop at a signal; they will continue on the ramp staying to the right. However, the ramp will be reconstructed in a way to slow vehicles as they merge onto Delta, which will improve safety, according to ODOT.

Beltline motorists also should benefit from this rebuilt ramp because it will be lengthened to the west, toward the Willamette River. That will allow motorists traveling east on Beltline to leave the highway sooner than they do now. Today, one lane of eastbound Beltline is often backed up with cars on both sides of the Willamette River as they prepare to exit the highway for southbound Delta. With more cars exiting Beltline sooner, that will free the two lanes of Beltline for eastbound through traffic, according to ODOT.

The $20 million for the work approved by the OTC on Friday came from leftover funds from the most recent improvement project at Interstate 5 and Beltline.

Now that funding is approved, the Delta/Beltline work is expected to start in spring 2019, first with the reconfiguration of the offramp to north and south Delta Highway from eastbound Beltline.

Construction of the new overpass over Beltline will begin in fall 2019, according to ODOT's schedule.

The rest of the interchange modifications are expected to be completed by late summer or early fall 2020.

Follow Ed Russo on Twitter @edwardrusso. Email ed.russo@registerguard.com.

Major elements to the Delta Highway/Beltline improvement project.

Start: Spring 2019

Completion: Fall 2020

Major changes

Eastbound drivers leaving Beltline to northbound Delta will move through a traffic signal. Eastbound drivers exiting Beltline to southbound Delta will not have to stop at the signal, but the onramp will be reconfigured to slow traffic, improving safety.

A new overpass will be constructed next to existing overpass to take northbound Delta traffic exiting onto westbound Beltline. Vehicles continuing north on Delta will travel over existing overpass. The loop ramp for westbound vehicles will be reconstructed to provide two lanes for cars to queue as they wait to merge onto Beltline.

A new ramp meter will be installed at the end of the loop ramp, at the merge with westbound Beltline. A ramp meter already is in place at the other westbound on-ramp. The ramp meter will create space between cars and trucks entering the highway, allowing traffic on Beltline to flow more smoothly.

The exit ramp from Beltline to Delta (northbound and southbound) will be extended to the west (to the bridge over the Willamette River). This will allow traffic to exit Beltline sooner, freeing the through lanes for eastbound traffic.

Loop ramp from eastbound Beltline to northbound Delta will be removed.

Onramp from Goodpasture Island Road to northbound Delta will be reconfigured.

Source: Oregon Department of Transportation