Phase 1A design problems: WEP
Note: In October 2005 ODOT revealed a difference mode for building the WEP - the "Couplet Alternative" (not to complete WEP as expressway east of Seneca).
Phase 1A of the WEP was the segment from Beltline to Seneca. It was the funded part ($17 million) but lacked independent utility - it would not have functioned well if this had been the only part built.
Phase 1A would have impacted Bertelsen Nature Park. Ironically, the 1980s study was more concerned about wetlands in the Nature Park area (east of Beltline) than the wetlands that had more concern in the 1990s and early 2000s (west of Beltline). The reality that both sides of the project had ecological values was ignored by the official study.
The proclivity of planners to push through incomplete projects, hoping the rest of their schemes somehow get funded, is a reason why federal laws prohibit "segmentation" of big projects into smaller efforts that are interdependent. Federal law does not ban destructive projects but it does require disclosure of the full impact.
The City of Eugene's November 2001 proposal for an alleged alternative to the WEP still included Phase 1A, plus a western extension to Danebo road and the eastern segment from Seneca to Highway 99 (the eastern terminus). This would have been about two thirds of the WEP and far more illegal due to segmentation to avoid disclosure of impacts to parks, wetlands, endangered species.
