Item 5: Crest Drive Community Team Recommendations

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Yes, I was a dedicated bicycle commuter, up the hill from Morse Ranch Park! My three children were bicyclists and bus riders as well, none of them getting their drivers' licenses until after they turned 20. The narrow streets were not ideal for biking, but were doable in part because they did not have curbs. However, I saw too many close calls from speeding cars trying to pass going downhill and not looking out for pedestrians and their dogs who also had to share the edges. I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the majority of my old neighbors who are shortsightedly thinking since they drive that they only need to preserve the driving option. I had excitedly embraced the Context Sensitive Design approach before I moved, as I thought it would allow the neighborhood to keep from being "FoxHollowized," while making the neighborhood safer for elementary kids biking and walking to Crest School, for older kids and parents biking and walking to Market of Choice, Roosevelt, South, LCC/UofO, or their jobs, or for recreational dog walkers and bicyclists going up past the TV towers on Blanton Road. I wrote multiple letters before and during the process suggesting a rolling curb and sidewalk on the uphill side as likely having the narrowest impact on the neigborhood. That would allow traffic calming by bicyclists on the downhill, but allow the too slow up-hillers to do what is safest depending on car and sidewalk activity. I now see that giving my neighbors too much power meant minority interests got trampled. That is where a compromise between city standards and neighborhood desires MUST preserve everyone's best interest. Narrow streets with curbs will be unsafe and un-ridable. Confining bikes to a sidewalk mean people won't ride. The only thing worse than walking up the hill is pushing a bike, that is not why people ride, and they won't. Especially if there is a pedestrian with a dog, an uphill biker will have to stop and will not be able to restart, the hills are too steep to do so. Having to cross streets with a sidewalk on the downhill side is even more dangerous, as bicyclists will be tempted to ride down the sidewalk, which will put pedestrians, their dogs, and uphill bicyclists in danger. Please send this proposal back to find a compromise that is good for the whole neighborhood, not just the drivers. Sincerely, Richard B Coolman MD, MPH Director, KidScope Assessment Center for Developmental & Behavioral Health, Departments of Pediatrics & Mental Health, Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System, San Jose CA rbentscool@yahoo.com 408-793-4253w, 408-979-0436h, 408-7935955fax From: Corey Dingman [mailto:corey@duncanbrown.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:50 AM To: *Eugene Mayor and City Council Subject: Crest Drive Mayor and City Council, I am writing you concerning the CDCT's Crest Drive Design Concept. I live in the Crest Drive Neighborhood, I have a young child, I walk in the neighborhood and sometimes ride my bike to work. The proposed plan is not safe for pedestrians or cyclists and is not representative of what most of the neighborhood wants. My neighbors and I have been voicing our concerns about this proposal to CDCT members as well as city staff since the first proposed design was made public. We have been told by city staff and committee members that it is too late to change now even though we have voiced serious concerns immediately after the plans were made public. We have been told by committee members at the Amazon Community Center open house that it is not "our" street and that because we wont have to pay assessments we shouldn't get to decide on - 8 - Crest Drive CSS Design Recommendation Public Testimony 2/14/08 through 4/8/08