Motorists, beware: Police plan series of crosswalk stings.

Byline: City Beat / Eugene by Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

PSST, DRIVERS. Read this column to avoid a $135 traffic ticket and the humiliation of becoming an example of inconsiderate driving.

About a month from now, Eugene police will begin a series of stings to dramatize the hazard of failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks.

The city's six-officer traffic enforcement unit is responding to city councilor complaints about pedestrian near-misses. Officer Bobby McDermed secured a $4,000 grant from the state to cover officer overtime. "This is a side effect of our hurry-up society," Councilor David Kelly said. "We get in the car and we're so focused - we've got to get to our goal just as soon as we can - that other factors like that poor pedestrian trying to cross the street don't enter into our minds."

Crosswalk stings generally involve a traffic cone, a decoy officer on foot and a motorized unit to nab and ticket violators. Police choose an intersection, pace off a reasonable stopping distance from the intersection - where they place the cone - and then position a plainclothes officer to step into the intersection the second an oncoming car passes the cone.

If the driver doesn't stop for the decoy pedestrian - who has the right-of-way at any corner crossing - bam, the driver gets the fat ticket.

Police hope drivers will share their pain with news media, so the whole community learns that failing to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian is a violation.

It can also be a critical issue. Over a three-year period ending in December 2000 - the most current figures available - 130 pedestrians were struck by cars or trucks in Eugene, and six of them died, city traffic engineer Tom Larsen said.

Two city intersections vied for the title of "most dangerous" with four pedestrian accidents apiece: 11th Avenue and Willamette Street, and Highway 99 at Royal Avenue.

Larsen said he'll advise the police about where the stings would do the most good.

Every intersection is a pedestrian crosswalk whether or not the city has spray-painted crosswalk lines, police said. Either way, drivers must stop.

The stings are expected to continue through the summer.

Save the trains

When a delegation of Eugene public officials hit Capitol Hill last week for a five-day lobbying trip, they had a resolution tucked under their arms that said essentially - "Save the trains."

Passed unanimously by the Eugene City Council in late February, the resolution proclaimed that the nation needs trains, the city needs trains and long-distance rail service is important to local economic vitality.

It asked the Oregon congressional delegation to help preserve some kind of national intercity passenger railroad.

Councilor Scott Meisner, who wrote the resolution, said he was careful to separate the fate of the trains with the fate of Amtrak. That's a wise strategy because the limping 31-year-old passenger railroad corporation is under heavy fire from opponents in the House and Senate.

The 18 long-distance lines that shuttle passengers across the country are unprofitable and thought to be the most vulnerable to closure.

The Coast Starlight that passes north and south through Eugene each day is on the hit list.

Jason Heuser, who tracks state and federal legislation for the city, said he suspects Congress could reduce the cross-country passenger lines - including the Empire Builder, the California Zephyr or the Southwest Chief - down to one or two.

Heuser also said he didn't know if the Coast Starlight - which runs between Los Angeles and Seattle - would survive. "I didn't necessarily hear a firm commitment," he said.

The fate of the national system is expected to unfold in the next several months. The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to hold hearings on Amtrak next Thursday.

The House Railroads Subcommittee will take the train system up in a third and final hearing April 11.

Meisner said he was reassured after meeting with the delegation in Washington, D.C.

"Amtrak is being debated, but almost no one is saying we don't need passenger rail," he said.

Reporter Diane Dietz can be reached at 338-2376 or by e-mail at [e-mail]