CC Minutes - 11/26/07 Work Session

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Mr. Poling asked for confirmation that the alternatives were not limited to those identified in Mr. Schwetz's presentation and that new options could be considered during the process. He expressed concerns about the West 11th Avenue, which he felt faced the same challenges as a Coburg Road route. He was reviewing reports from the West Eugene Extension Corridor Committee, but scheduling conflicts had made it difficult to attend meetings. Ms. Bettman questioned the purpose of selecting a corridor from among such a broad range of alternatives. She confirmed with Mr. Schwetz that West 18th Avenue was not being considered. She thought that each alternative would have a different purpose and need and saw no reason for a route along the Amazon Channel. She asked when LTD wanted decisions from the council on specific provisions of the plan and what disposition would be made of the council's comments from this meeting. Mr. Schwetz referred to the preliminary process and timeline included in the agenda packet. He said the major decision point for the council would occur when the results of the environmental analysis were available; at that time the council would be asked for its selection of a preferred alternative. He said that decision would involve the council, the LTD Board and the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC). He said there were points in the process preceding that decision at which LTD would provide project updates to the council. He said the LTD Board would consider adoption of the Purpose and Need Statement and Goal and Objectives at its December 19, 2007, meeting; the Board would identify alternative alignments for further environmental analysis at its February 2008 meeting. Ms. Bettman expressed concern with the amount of leeway in the process, which she felt could result in the council not selecting any of the alternative alignments as the preferred alignment. Ms. Ortiz said she was also concerned with the purpose of having BRT in West Eugene and the ultimate goal of the project. She was hopeful there would be feasible alternatives as she supported mass transit, but did not want it to occur at the cost of constituents' quality of life. Mr. Schwetz said one of the goals was to relieve commuter traffic from the west. Ms. Solomon asked if an Amazon Channel alignment would be a bus only lane or allow other traffic. Mr. Schwetz said a bus only lane was envisioned. In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, Mr. Schwetz said that an extension West 5th Avenue to Bertelsen Road was a problem because of intervening wetlands. Ms. Solomon pointed out that the entire area had wetlands and some mitigation could be done. Mr. Schwetz agreed there would be tradeoffs with any of the options and the process would allow mixing and matching alternatives to achieve the goal of the NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) process to mitigate the project's impacts. Ms. Taylor asked if the alternative alignments being considered were under discussion because there was a large demand for service in those spots. Mr. Schwetz responded that the concentration of demand was along West 11th Avenue, particularly west of Garfield Street. Ms. Taylor asked if Highway 99 would be considered as a corridor. Mr. Schwetz said it was not under consideration at this point. Ms. Piercy asked if the council could provide comments on the Purpose and Need Statement. Mr. Schwetz replied that he would provide the council with an updated version, based on public comments to date. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 26, 2007 Page 3 Work Session