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EmX Expands To Riverbend

Desmond O'Boyle

Sacred Heart’s RiverBend hospital in Springfield has a new EmX stop that is closer to the facility. About 50 supporters and dignitaries attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday (today).

Land Transit District’s EmX now stops at the Pavilion station located on RiverBend Drive. It provides direct access to Lane County’s largest medical center for thousands of patients and employees. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden stressed the importance of expanding public transportation.

Wyden 18: “Without these kinds of transportation services, a lot of our most vulnerable Oregonians in effect wouldn’t have access, wouldn’t have access to jobs, wouldn’t have access to healthcare, and wouldn’t have access to a lot of the opportunities that make Oregon so special.”

Wyden is pushing to maintain the Highway Trust Fund, which he says could run out of money by the end of the summer. Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg thanked supporters for the EmX expansion noting Springfield has two corridors.

Credit Desmond O'Boyle

Lundberg: “It not only matches people up with Glenwood and downtown, but downtown Eugene, it comes to the employment hub, which is out here in Gateway, it gets people to hotels, and most importantly, it gets people to this beautiful hospital.”

Project funding came from the Federal Surface Transportation Program. The total cost was $770,000.

copyright, 2014 KLCC