Posted by Mark Robinowitz on November 19, 2003 at 23:39:06:
you can make a donation online at
http://www.heliosnetwork.org/grantinfo.htm
WETLANDS: West Eugene Transportation, Land and Neighborhood Design Solutions
$250 from Helios fund
$250 to be raised from the community
$500 Total donationGrant Started: November 19th, 2003
Grant Ends: Feburary 19th 2004
Description:
WETLANDS is working to stop the West Eugene Parkway by monitoring the Environmental Impact Statement process, preparing a federal lawsuit, and taking citizens on tours of the West Eugene Wetlands. The WEP is one of the most illegal highways ever proposed in the US, and WETLANDS has done extremely detailed work to document the legal obstacles to its approval by the Federal Highway Administration (currently slated for mid-2004).WETLANDS has crafted a land use, transportation, energy and environment alternative to the highway that is posted on our website (http://www.efn.org/~wep) The WETLANDS alternative would transfer the land purchased for the road to the West Eugene Wetlands restoration efforts, fix existing roads (particularly West 11th, Beltline and Highway 99), add a few modest roads, bring Bus Rapid Transit routes to west and north Eugene, zoning shifts for mixed use neighborhoods, and improve bicycling conditions.
This grant would allow us to publish color maps of the alternative and an accompanying detailed report to distribute it to neighborhood organizations, environmental groups, elected officials and transportation officials.
The alternative was developed by reviewing the history of the WEP (which dates to the 1950s), attending official meetings where critical details were disclosed, extensive field work along the route, input from numerous citizens, groups, and participants in the official process, examining history of successful and unsuccessful highway fights in other communities and federal legal issues on transportation and environmental impacts. Printed publication will facilitate review of these suggestions by the broader community.
Ultimately, cancellation of the WEP will force a serious, regional discussion of sustainability that involves the entire community -- at the very least, it will force a major revision for long term planning for the region