.jpg){kind=link}
The Goodpasture Covered Bridge at Vida spans 165 feet, and the Belknap Bridge at Blue River dates to 1966, according to Travel Oregon.
Building again after the Holiday Farm Fire
The 2020 Holiday Farm Fire burned more than 173,000 acres, including over 500 homes and offices, OPB reported in 2021. For a new house, we wire everything from the meter and panel to the last outlet and fit the work around your builder's schedule. See new home construction wiring, and ADU wiring if you're starting with a smaller dwelling on the lot. Walterville, Leaburg, Vida, and Blue River are all unincorporated, so the Lane County Building Program issues the electrical permits.
Lane Electric now serves the valley
On May 1, 2026, EWEB finished moving about 2,500 McKenzie Valley customers to Lane Electric Cooperative, according to the American Public Power Association. EWEB's own Q&A describes that area as running between Thurston Road and Vida. If your bill used to come from EWEB, Lane Electric's programs are the ones that apply now, and that includes $500 back on a qualifying home EV charger. The Lane Electric guide lists its current offers.
When the upriver lines go down
When the January 2024 ice storm began on January 13, about 2,100 upriver customers, mostly east of Thurston, lost power, and the main line that serves Blue River stayed out for six days, according to EWEB's after-action report. A standby generator starts on its own and keeps the fridge and the furnace fan running through an outage that long. If a tree takes the line off the house, we repair the pipe on the roof where the line attaches and the box that holds the meter, so Lane Electric can reconnect; see storm damage repair.
Wells and shops along the river
If your home is on a well, an outage stops the water along with the lights, and putting the pump circuit on the generator hookup keeps the water running. If you have a shop, it needs a wire from the house sized for the distance and the tools. See well pump electrical and shop and barn wiring.