02/22/1982 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e entire city should vote on the issue of traffic diverters. He referred to previous council discussion of the Broadway-10th Avenue diverters and noted that the council had been unable to find a reason for installation of the diverters at that time, He said that the City wants people to spend money at downtown businesses but that with all the diverters and one-way streets, there is no way for people to get downtown. Mr. Moore introduced several other speakers. Mrs. Temms, 922 Polk Street, said that she has lived in the area for five years, but that she had never been surveyed by the Traffic Division for her opinion on the diverters. She said that the City has not paid enough attention to establishing conditions for installation of diverters. She said that she favors the diverters on Alder Street, but the streets in the Westside neighborhood are wide with generous setbacks and therefore do not need diverters. She said she has seen few children in the area and noted that Lincoln School, the elementary school for the area, had been closed due to low enrollment. She felt that making these diverters permanent would set a precedent and would result in fragmentation of the city through installation of more diverters. Ellie Rae, 1050 Fillmore, said that she has lived in the area for 33 years. She said that the diverters might benefit a few residents, but that they cause inconvenience and expense for others. She said that the streets were designed to provide access and noted that 7th, 8th, and 11th avenues were already congested enough without adding more traffic to them by diverting it from other streets. She said that the diverters would result in economic loss to the downtown area and in increased gasoline consumption. G. Bill Thompson, 590 West 25th Avenue/768 West Broadway, urged councilors to vote ln favor of the staff recommendation to remove the diverters. He said the Public Works Department had done its job well in developing its recommendation. Billie Pursle~, 831 West Broadway, said that she has lived in the area since 1942. She sald that she had written a letter and telephoned her opposition to diverters when the subject was first raised and that she had also spoken at the staff hearing. She noted that other areas of the city with more children in them do not have traffic diverters. She said that the diverters made it more expensive for her to make daily trips, since she had to go out of her way to get places. She said that a number of older people who opposed the diverters could not be present at the hearing due to the time of the meeting and the bad weather. She reminded councilors that the Public Works Department's survey showed 2:1 opposition to the diverters. Mary E. Goettling, 892 West Broadway, said that her husband has lived in the area since 1942. She read a letter on the diverter issue from Councilor Wooten that had appeared in the May 1981 issue of the WNQP Newsletter. Clifford J. Defoe, 1990 West 12th Avenue, said that he is a concrete contractor and that the diverters were costing him money. He said that the diverters would make it difficult for police to pursue bicyclists. He agreed with earlier testimony in opposition to the diverters. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 22, 1982 Page 5