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Mr. Washburn shared a map showing the various recommended freight route designations in Oregon. He noted that the recommendations, if adopted by the OTC, would result in an additional 919 miles of highway designated as freight routes. Ms. Russo concluded the presentation by encouraging the council and public to offer comment on the analysis to the OTC. Mayor Torrey solicited council questions and comments. Ms. Taylor asked if a community's opposition to a freight route designation would be sufficient to stop a highway from receiving the designation, citing the McKenzie Highway as an example where such opposition existed. Ms. Russo assured Ms. Taylor that public comment would influence the OTC's decisions and possibly result in changes to the recommendations. Ms. Taylor observed that West 11th Avenue (Highway 126) was already heavily congested, and it seemed the designation could worsen the situation. Ms. Russo said that was true of many highways in many places around Oregon, particularly in urban areas. She believed that in terms of tonnage and volume of trucks, the highway met the threshold criteria for the designation. Ms. Taylor inquired as to the purpose of the analysis; was it to help truckers? Ms. Russo said that a designation was partly a line on a map but it was accompanied by policies. The policies directed ODOT to manage such roadways in certain ways. That was the main reason for the designation. Mr. Washburn added that a primary purpose of the designation was to recognize the importance of the highway as a facility for carrying freight. When a project was proposed, such as an intersection project, freight concerns would be taken into consideration, along with other considerations related to local needs. He said that it was simply recognition of what existed. Ms. Bettman asked Mr. Henry, a member of the local interjurisdictional Transportation Planning Committee, to discuss the committee's examination of the subject. Mr. Henry said that the committee discussed the issue but had not yet reached a recommendation. Staff had raised concerns about the potential impact of the designation on interchange spacing, whether projects such as intersection improvements could actually be constructed meeting the higher mobility standards, and the impact on the system from an access management perspective, primarily with regard to West 11 th Avenue. Ms. Bettman requested the committee's recommendations in memorandum form so the council could discuss them if it wished. Ms. Bettman said that the designation might give more weight to improvements in the designated corridor. The consequences of the designation could be good in terms of improving mobility in a corridor. With regard to access issues, she suggested that those would be of more concern on routes containing lots of residents and small businesses than on routes such as Beltline. She thought the designation could have benefits for one section of a corridor and downsides for another section, depending on how it was currently developed. Ms. Bettman questioned the impact of the designation on the funding or status of other projects in the Regional Transportation Plan. Speaking to the issue of access management, Mr. Henry said that the ODOT staff report was rather vague in that area. Staff had the same questions as Ms. Bettman, and would be asking ODOT for responses to those questions before forwarding a recommendation to the elected officials. Ms. Russo agreed that the MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 17, 2004 Page 2 Work Session