Major road construction project with big price tag to begin Monday
EUGENE, Ore. -- Driving down Crest Drive you can see just how bumpy this road really is. It's covered in potholes - but not for long.
Starting Monday, Delta Construction will begin a variety of projects on Crest. They will pave the street, build a sidewalk and add street lights. It's just the first phase of the project that will fix parts of Crest Drive, Storey Boulevard and Friendly Street. This section should be done in October while the rest won't be completed until 2010.
It's a fairly massive project that comes with a hefty price-tag of $3.8 million. Some of that money is coming out of the city's road fund.
The other source of funding is a little more controversial.
More than 120 people who live on one of the roads will be assessed depending on how much of their property faces the street. For some of them like Bill Eddy and Kim Heddinger that means it will cost them up to $10,000. KVAL News talked to them when they first learned about the charges in February.
"It's a lot of money," Eddy said.
"It's going to be a major financial burden," Heddinger said.
Despite the backlash, two weeks ago, the Eugene City Council gave crews the thumbs up to begin construction. The Eugene Public Works Department said there will be detour signs and to be prepared for traffic delays.
