Item B: West 11th Transportation Corridor Study

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY th Work Session: West 11 Avenue Corridor Study Meeting Date: July 12, 2010 Agenda Item Number: B Department: Public Works Staff Contact: Chris Henry www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-8472 ISSUE STATEMENT th The West 11 Avenue Corridor Study is an effort chosen by the Eugene City Council to explore short- th term transportation improvements in the West 11 Avenue corridor following the removal of the West Eugene Parkway from the Regional Transportation Plan. Study results will be presented. BACKGROUND th The West 11 Avenue Corridor Study is an endeavor by the City of Eugene to seek short-term remedies for transportation problems in west Eugene. The development of the study follows removal of the West Eugene Parkway from the Regional Transportation Plan and implements a council priority to address th transportation problems in north and west Eugene. The West 11 Avenue Corridor Study was prepared by DKS Associates under contract with the City of Eugene paid for with Surface Transportation Program-Urban (STP-U) federal funds of roughly $100K, plus in-kind match from the City in the form th of staff time. The study documents existing travel conditions in the West 11 Avenue corridor between Greenhill Road and Chambers Street and identifies strategies to enhance travel through improvements to bicycle and pedestrian facilities, corridor safety, management of accesses, changes to traffic signal timing and intersection modification projects. If implemented, these strategies will yield improvements to safety and mobility in the corridor. In the course of the study, two open houses were held on December 9, 2008, and November 18, 2009, to engage the community and agency partners. So what did the study find? Generally, the corridor is performing well except for a few hot spots of congestion at intersections (mostly on the state system and the west end of the corridor). The study evaluated existing (2008) conditions and short-term, future (2013) conditions for the corridor. Current delays are moderate for the 22,000 to 28,000 motorists using the corridor daily. Average travel times through the corridor (between Greenhill Road and Chambers Street) range from 11 to 12 minutes with average stopped delays of two to three minutes. Opportunities for improvements exist, but the effects are marginal and in some cases relatively costly to make. Signal timing could be modified slightly and signal systems adjusted with slight delay reductions. More extensive (and expensive) projects could add turn-lane capacity at a few key locations to ease traffic flow. Overall, there are no single fixes that would dramatically change the travel experience through the corridor. There are many smaller enhancements that could be made that would have an incremental effect on improving corridor transportation. Z:\CMO\2010 Council Agendas\M100712\S100612B.doc