Item C: Railroad Quiet Zone Update

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ATTACHMENT C STREET CLOSURES Permanent closures can be among the less expensive crossing safety upgrades, but will result in difficulties with local access, increased out of direction travel and increased traffic and congestion on alternative routes. In addition the railroad is very concerned about pedestrian trespass. Barricades, fencing, pavement removal and curb work could all be part of any crossing closure. The following table lists the street classification and Average Daily Traffic (ADT) for the10 crossings considered for a Quiet Zone. RAILROAD STREET ADT ADT CROSSING CLASSIFICATION # RANK HIGH Major Collector 4200 1 WASHINGTON Major Collector 3800 2 PEARL Major Collector 2800 3 VAN BUREN Neighborhood Collector 2400 4 ocal L LAWRENCE 2000 5 JEFFERSON Major Collector 1600 6 ocal L LINCOLN 1500 7 ocal L MONROE 1500 8 ocal L MADISON 1200 9 ocal L 8TH/HILYARD 250 10 Any street closure will be permanent. Community and business acceptance or support for widespread crossing closure could be difficult to obtain. The ODOT rail section has described the six crossings in six blocks area (Monroe, Madison, Jefferson, Washington, Lawrence and Lincoln) as “having redundant” crossings and believes several of these crossings should be closed. Van Buren, Jefferson, Washington, Pearl and High are collector streets and theoretically are more important to the street network and more difficult to close than local streets. While it is th classified as a local street, the 8 and Hilyard crossing is identified in the Downtown Vision as a th major connection between downtown and the river and should not considered for closure. 8 and Hilyard and Van Buren are the boundaries of the zone and serve the widest area. Lawrence, even thought classified as a local street, has higher average traffic volume than Jefferson, classified as a Major Collector. Monroe Street is the route of the proposed bike blvd and