Laserfiche WebLink
From:Danika Esden-Tempska <br />To:*Eugene Mayor, City Council, and City Manager;INERFELD Rob;TAYLOR Becky <br />Subject:TSP 2035 comments for the public record <br />Date:Friday, February 24, 2017 2:47:36 PM <br />Dear City Transportation Planning Staff, County Commissioners, Mayor, City Councilors & City Manager, <br />I'm writing in regards to your proposal within the TSP, to downgrade the Level of <br />Service from a “D” rating (very bad but repairable) to an “E” rating (failing grade and <br />unrepairable) citywide on all streets. This is unacceptable, do not lower the Level of <br />Service from D. There are already serious traffic congestion and gridlock issues in <br />Eugene and by downgrading you're making it a permanent negative feature of the city <br />without the required possibility of repair. Your job as city planners is to keep the city in <br />working order through feedback from the community. The ability to drive throughout <br />Eugene without serious traffic congestion and gridlock is very important to the <br />functioning of the city. The traffic has only gotten worse over the last couple years <br />with the narrowing of streets. I have lived in Eugene for over 29 years and for most of <br />that time, driving through town has been relatively trouble free and efficient. The <br />increase in the number of residents arriving from other locations has had a dramatic <br />impact on the style of driving and the congestion in the city. People seem to be more <br />aggressive and reckless when they drive, there is no police ticketing oversight to <br />regulate the driving speed, so people feel emboldened to drive really fast, over the <br />speed limit. <br />The city’s push for densification has only added to this traffic problem and it will <br />continue to increase if you continue to push for massive complexes of housing/retail <br />that bring a large number of people. People do have cars. Currently the Developer <br />and City are trying to allow the building of Amazon Corner at Hilyard St & 32nd Ave <br />without an adequate Traffic Impact Analysis. Negative traffic impact should not be <br />permitted without any option to appeal. This proposed TSP change with a LOS of E <br />would eliminate an appeal option. The existing high traffic areas, like the Hilyard St & <br />30th Ave area would have no remedy of mitigation. <br />We must not let density increase beyond reasonable growth that is respectful of the <br />existing character of neighborhoods. All developers and city planners need to be <br />respectful towards the existing community and help them resolve traffic problems. <br />Driving around Eugene will be intolerable with Level “E” traffic congestion which is a <br />failing grade. Downgrading to failing by the city transportation staff shows a lack of <br />care and skill in dealing with traffic issues. Please DO NOT downgrade the LOS <br />(Level of Service) from a “D” to an “E”. Eugene deserves clear passage without failing <br />gridlock. I do not want to start seeing road rage either. <br />The city believes that making the traffic worse will force people to take the bus or ride <br />bikes. This has not been the case at all, bad traffic just makes bad traffic. In 2016 the <br />city added a bus line to W 29th Ave running past my house. I see and hear the bus <br />going by every half hour, and the bus is almost always completely empty. Same for <br />the fight over bike lanes going down Willamette St, the Arriving by Bike shop on <br />Willamette St was insistent that they were necessary. Now that the bike lanes are in <br /> <br />