Belt Line interchange project officially begins.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

With Monday morning traffic on Interstate 5 roaring in the background, state officials announced a $72.5 million upgrade of the interchange at I-5 and Belt Line Road.

It's the largest project ever managed by state Department of Transportation staff in Lane County, and it's among the largest transportation projects under way in Oregon, agency officials said.

The project will improve safety and better serve the burgeoning businesses and residential developments in north Eugene and the Gateway area of Springfield, transportation and elected officials said.

That section of the highway has been "dangerous for quite some time," U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio told the small crowd at the ground- breaking.

With the addition of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's 230-employee call center, PeaceHealth's regional medical center at RiverBend in Spring-field and new housing developments, "This is going to be an incredibly stressed point," DeFazio said.

DeFazio was instrumental in securing federal highway funds for the project. Most of the $72.5 million cost will be covered by the Oregon Transportation Investment Act, the state's 10-year, $3 billion road and bridge upgrade program.

The $72.5 million upgrade will build a flyover ramp to take vehicles traveling north on I-5 over the freeway to westbound lanes of Belt Line; add a new westbound lane on Belt Line from I-5 to the Coburg Road interchange; build a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over I-5 north of the Harlow Road overpass; and replace two I-5 bridges over Game Farm Road.

It's the first phase of a larger project estimated to cost $113 million, state transportation spokesman Joe Harwood said.

A future phase will install sound walls on the west side of I-5; build a new ramp from I-5 southbound to westbound Belt Line; and rebuild the congested Belt Line/Gateway Street intersection.

Preliminary construction work on the first phase began in March and will become more visible heading into the summer, state transportation officials said.

Daytime traffic delays aren't expected, but lanes could be closed intermittently at night as construction accelerates, transportation officials said.

Starting on Monday, twice-weekly updates on the project will be available online at www.keepusmoving.info, Harwood said.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in December 2008. Work on the second phase should begin in 2010 or 2011, said Jeff Scheick, the state Transportation Department's Northwest Region manager.

The improvements will bring the interchange, constructed in 1968, up to modern standards, state transportation officials said.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who also spoke at the groundbreaking, recalled the days when the Rodeway Inn was the only major development on the east side of the freeway in what is now Springfield's Gateway area.

Today, the area served by the I-5/Belt Line interchange is a thriving manufacturing and commercial center that provides jobs for about 5,500 people, Kulongoski said, adding that that figure could grow to 15,000 in the next decade.