Who cares about regional transportation planning?
Only 60 people showed up May 11 at a cavernous hall at the Fairgrounds for the return of Osprey Group consultants Dennis Donald and John Huyler. They were here to talk about their assessment of the West Eugene Parkway impasse. But 60 people might have been enough. We left the two-hour meeting hopeful that it is possible to avoid years of litigation. The consultants told us they see collaboration as a workable option, even though “the hurdles are serious,” and include a “history of animosities and polarization” and an “undercurrent of suspicion.” We don’t mind squabbles and partisan bickering — it’s a sign of a healthy and vibrant public process — but this WEP quagmire is growing tiresome, draining time and energy from progress on a host of other community issues. What we’ve been doing with the WEP over the past 25 years simply hasn’t been working. Here is a way out, and it doesn’t even require that we trust each other! What it requires is getting two dozen good people around the table
