Item 5: Crest Drive Community Team Recommendations

Home Browse Search

Thank you for your prompt reply. Of course I'm aware that you have been a proponent of alternative transportation throughout your career on the City Council, which is why it surprises me that in this case you are not fully on board with a bike lane. As to neighborhood protection, having experienced recently here on Whitbeck Blvd. a huge change in the character of our little neighborhood when three houses were built on a lot three years ago, a change which we attempted to fight (with your very gracious help), I understand the motivation for such concern. And yet I've come to understand as well that change is good, that the character of neighborhoods lies more in the congeniality between neighbors than in outward appearances. Perhaps the inclusion of a contiguous sidewalk and a bike lane in the Friendly/Crest/Storey neighborhoods would in fact promote more neighborliness as folks would feel more comfortable getting out, walking, biking and getting to know their neighbors--both those who live near and those who would come from a bit further off were the neighborhood made more accessible. Thank you again for your time and for your willingness to listen to all points of view. Sara Burant From: hbonnett@comcast.net [mailto:hbonnett@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 8:39 AM To: *Eugene Mayor and City Council Subject: not Crest again! Dear Mayor Piercy and City Councilors, The Crest, Friendly, and Storey Blvd street improvements need to be re-examined in order to work out some compromise that will at least partially support safe pedestrian and bicycle trips. Friendly St. is a good bicycle connector to Lorane Highway, but 9-foot lanes and one sidewalk on the downhill side are not suitable. Bicycle riders going uphill need a bicycle lane, and the sidewalk should be on the uphill side in case they need to walk part of the way. Sidewalks separated from 9-foot travel lanes by nothing more than a curb are scary when large vehicles, wide vehicles, noisy vehicles, and speeding vehicles rush by closely. If only one sidewalk is to be provided, then it should be separated from the street by a planting strip. The neighbors state that a narrow streetscape reduces speed and I agree, but a narrow streetscape can also be achieved by the striping of bike lanes and by separating the sidewalk from the travel lanes in order to have low vegetation close in to the travel lanes. Agate Street from 18th to 24th is a street with bicycle lanes on both sides, with parking on one side, and with planting strips separating pavement from sidewalks. When Agate Street was reconfigured in this manner, the average speed of the car traffic dropped significantly due to a narrow looking streetscape and narrow travel lanes. Significant lengths of Crest Drive as it goes uphill past Morse Ranch and on also have the sidewalk on the downhill side and have no separation of the sidewalk from the downhill travel lane. Of course, the neighbors want the sidewalk on the side along their houses. Good for them, but not for travelers using bicycles, pedestrians walking along Morse Ranch, etc. According to testimony at your public hearing, a representative of the neighborhood stated that their planning group included a representative of the bicycling community throughout the process, as if that made their work acceptable. However, the bicycle representative, also a neighbor, stated she had voted a “1” on a scale of 1-5 on the completed plan, with “1” being completely unacceptable. Imagine the courage it took to try to stand up against a united front of neighbors who want even less than Eugene’s minimum required street improvement. - 13 - Crest Drive CSS Design Recommendation Public Testimony 2/14/08 through 4/8/08