CC Minutes - 09/25/06 Work Session

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Ms. Ortiz stated she had no concerns about Beltline being a top priority. She said that many people were now driving through town instead of taking Beltline because of congestion and safety concerns and she was one of those people. She preferred to address Beltline problems sooner rather than later. She concurred th with Ms. Bettman’s concern about the proposed motion identifying West 11 Avenue as the next EmX corridor. She hoped that the discussion would include ways the City could gain control of that street, similar to the approach with Franklin Boulevard, to assure that the first consideration was to best serve the interests of Eugene residents. Ms. Ortiz asked for clarification of the recommendation related to changes to the Land Use Code. Mr. Schoening said that as new property was developed and Public Works reviewed the land use application, one of the considerations would be managing access to the major street system. Mr. Papé concurred with Ms. Ortiz about the need to make Beltline a priority. He said that traffic problems, particularly during peak morning and evening hours, were frightening. He asked if there was a th portion of the West 11 Avenue study that could not be funded by STP-U because it was a local street. Mr. Schoening said that STP-U funding could be used for a study from Greenhill Road to the Downtown Station th because while West 11 Avenue was a local street, it was of regional significance. In response to a question from Mr. Papé, Mr. Schoening said the RTP was in a cycle to be updated by March 2007 and part of the update would be removing the WEP from the regional traffic model and rebalancing the model to determine the impact on the rest of the transportation system in 2025. He said that would identify any land use actions that had to be addressed in the update of TransPlan. Mr. Papé requested a memorandum from staff explaining how the studies, plan updates and potential land use changes in west Eugene were connected. Mr. Poling said he was pleased to see Beltline at the top of the priority list as he seldom used it because of th the dangerous driving conditions. He was surprised that West 11 Avenue was identified as the next EmX corridor study because the direction of growth and demographics would appear to support Highway 99 as the next corridor; for that reason he could not support the second item in the proposed motion. Ms. Solomon indicated she would make the motion without Item 2. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to identify the Beltline Corridor from River Road to Coburg Road as the City’s top priority for funding in the State th Transportation Improvement Program and West 11 Avenue from Terry Street to Greenhill Road as its second priority, support a transportation corridor study of th West 11 Avenue and the City’s application for $150,000 of STP-U planning funds for the study and support the initiation of regulatory changes to the land use code and associated administrative rule that would implement access management on the City’s arterial and collector street system. th Ms. Bettman suggested rewording of Item 2 to “explore the possibility” of West 11 Avenue as the next th EmX corridor because while she agreed that 6 Avenue to Highway 99 was probably the best choice th demographically, as long as West 11 Avenue was being studied its potential as an EmX corridor should be considered. She agreed that Beltline should be the highest priority and her only objection to the recommen- dation was that it was limited to the section from River Road to Coburg Road. MINUTES—City Council September 25, 2006 Page 9 Work Session