11/24/1975 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr~ John Tiffany, speaking for himself and as a member of the EWEB Board, spoke to a real concern by EWEB about costs incurred to them through lack of good arterial streets in their area of the city. A reasonable e arterial system exists to the north of their offices but to the south it is poor, causing difficulty to ratepayers. He noted that mass transit is good to have but, without restrictive legislation, he would question if it will reach the higher levels as projected in the study. The reliance on the auto,particularly to shoppers and business people who use autos in their work, would deem heavy mass transit use somewhat impractical. Dave Van Fossen, 2700 Almaden, speaking as a charter member of ESATS and as a real estate salesman, noted that at the time of the ESATS study they considered one body moving from departure point to final destination as a one person trip. He said that the transit district counts one trip as a body moving from departure point to point of transfer, then from point of transfer to the next point as another person trip. If that assumption was used, then all the figures in the report are wrong fundamentally. Therefore, he does not feel the City is in a position to make a selection on any of the alternatives because there are inaccurate statistics involved. (I-B-l) Michael Watt, commuter in the City, having biked for 2~ years, feels that bikes and cars do not run on the same street effectively. Bike paths, he said, are an excellent idea though not adequate at this point. He would like auto traffic restricted to arterial and main streets with a separate system of capillaries for bikes. To the statement he has heard that the auto is a trend that should be prepared for in the future, he said that does not seem to be good logic. "We are here to change things," he concluded. Gary Connelly, 1190 Washington, speaking for the Westside Neighborhood e Quality Project, read portions of that group's statements as follows: "Any regional transportation plan should have as its central goal the enhancement of the quality of life and the preservation of the central city neighborhoods and all residential neighborhoods, free from air pollution, excessive noise, and the isolation and bisection by heavy traffic flow. We urge you to consider this important aspect of the urban scene as you and the citizens of Eugene formulate a regional transportation plan. Toward the achievement of these goals, an ongoing citizen participation process is essential throughout the development of a detailed transportation plan. The following has been adopted by the Westside Neighborhood Quality Project as our response to the Eugene-Springfield Transportation Alternatives document of proposals, and contains some of our suggestions for creating a regional transportation plan. Any general transportation policy or master plan should reflect the following statement of general transportation policies, goals, and objectives: 1. The main consideration of any transportation policy is the enhancement of the quality of life in the neighborhoods. 2. We see the ESATS alternative III (30% transit, 10% trip reduction) to be the absolute minimum goal to be achieved by the year 2000. We believe that virtually all of the projected traffic increase can and should be handled by developing and improving a diverse mass transit system. 3. We believe that any master transportation plan must deal with all forms of transportation and that alternative transportation systems must include a variety of modes and not just buses. 4. The central area should not bear the load of cross-town vehicular traffic. 5. The Westside Neighborhood Quality e Project requests that the neighborhood groups and the public in general be presented with a more detailed description of the potential physical manifestations or projects that might characterize each alternative. 6. One of the major goals of the community development program is the rejuvenation 'IS' 11/24/75 - 4