Streets That Work » Grove Street
Streets That Work:
Grove Street
“I want safe walking and biking infrastructure on Grove Street to connect North Eugene High School, Kelly Middle School, and Howard Elementary to the neighborhood.”
To get involved, fill out this form:
Seven Years of Students and Neighbors Organizing for Grove Street
2026 – University of Oregon LiveMove Students Draft Design Alternatives for Grove Street
Empowered by success of relatively cheaply improving safety on Patterson Street, members of the UO student group LiveMove and staff advisor Marc Schlossberg identified Grove Street as another corridor that could be improved in a “quick build” style –using cheaper materials like paint and flexible bollards. These design alternatives would provide more space for walking and biking than the City’s proposal, by either repurposing the underused parking lane or making the street one driving lane.
Read the UO’s Grove Design Alternatives
2026 – City of Eugene and Lane County Apply For Funding
Recognizing this significant safety priority for the neighborhood, Lane County applied for MPO (federal) funding in February 2026 to repave and add a walking/biking space to Grove St. Unfortunately, other projects in Lane County were selected as higher priorities.
Improving Grove Street is also a top priority for the 4J School District’s safe routes to school efforts. Unfortunately, in April of 2026 the Oregon Legislature voted to defund the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Safe Routes to School Construction Grants to shore up ODOT’s budget. This removed another key source of funds that could have repaved and improved Grove Street.
2024 – City of Eugene Proposes Active Transportation Improvements
As part of an open house about various transportation projects in River Road and Santa Clara, the City of Eugene Transportation Staff publicly referenced wanting to build a protected walking and biking space to Grove St.
Note, Grove Street is currently owned by Lane County. For the City of Eugene to make changes to Grove Street they would need to work with Lane County to obtain a facility permit or take ownership of the street through annexation and jurisdictional transfer
2024 – River Road/Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan Identifies Grove Street
The River Road/Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan describes the goals and policy of these neighborhoods for the next 20+ years. Policy 4.1 Safety and Accessibility: Improve safety and accessibility for people walking, biking, and using mobility devices directly applies to Grove St, and Grove is identified in the plan as a neighborhood greenway and a key “safe route to school.”
2024 – Kelly Middle School Student-Led Survey
Kelly Middle School’s Student Leadership Group wanted a safer walk to school, and they decided to do something about it. With support from 4J Safe Routes to School, the middle school students created a survey and knocked on doors along Grove Street to distribute it. People driving and walking alike noted the dangerous conditions, especially when crowds of students are leaving school.
- “There is no side walk and I feel like I could get run over.”
- “Cars drive to fast and there is no protection from them”
- “Speeding cars, poor visibility, no sidewalk”
- “Too congested, too narrow, too much street parking. It has a nominal bike lane, students walk on both sides of the street.”
- “I do not feel safe trying to drive down grove when kids are trying to go to and from school. There is not adequate space to comfortably separate the kids from so much traffic at that time of day”
2023 – Safe Routes to School Parents Survey
4J Safe Routes to School surveyed parents online and at the North Eugene High School Parent Group about a potential bike/ped bridge across Beltline and Grove St. Parents overwhelmingly supported a separated space for people walking and biking, with comments such as:
“I would feel much safer allowing my children to ride bikes and walk to North [Eugene High School] if there was a separate place to walk.”
“The current situation on Grove is not safe. Cars park on Grove making it narrow for cars and the many students using this street every day.”
“I drive down Grove St. and I am always worried about groups of kids walking because there is not room for both cars and pedestrians.”
Read more comments from all of the surveys here:
2023 – Kelly Middle School Petition
Frustrated by the lack of sidewalks and bike lanes and leaves blocking the street, 6th Grade Kelly Middle School student Pilar Lopez started a petition “requesting City and County officials to utilize funding to help make this route safe for students to come and go from school.” Over 100 people, primarily Kelly Middle School students, signed the petition asking for a safer way to get to school.
Read the Petition
2019 – BEST Coordinates a Safe Street Audit Report
BEST walked with Safe Routes to School, AARP and neighbors along Howard, Grove and Lake, reviewing safety issues in the neighborhood. Key findings included:
- Neighbors desire for increased personal safety
- Traffic speeds on major neighborhood streets are too high
- Concern about safety for people walking, especially on routes to schools and at intersections
- The city’s leaf removal program that calls for residents to blow their leaves into the street are not in keeping with Eugene’s Bike & Pedestrian plan, which includes bike lanes as part of the street.
- Concern for safety of neighborhood children/youth walking or bicycling, and
- Concern for older residents and young parents with strollers to walk safely to the local community center and to get across streets safely
Read the full River Road Safe Streets Audit Report
See also
Related information from BEST:
- Streets That Work
Last updated 10/19/26.