CC Minutes - 05/11/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Boyatt stated that ODOT had committed $2.75 million to fund environmental impact statements (ELS) for the construction of ramps once the community had demonstrated its priority and support for the project at the planning and policy levels. He said the Phase 1 work plan had intended to check in with the community and use the process to identify community concerns and gauge the level of local support. This had been used to develop the Phase 2 work plan. He noted that the AlS contained the consultant's summary memorandum. He called the process valuable in guiding the Phase 2 work plan and further refining the ongoing process. Continuing, Mr. Boyatt provided a PowerPoint presentation on the Phase 2 process. He related that the consultants had called the process a "community dialogue." He said there might not be a notice to proceed on the Phase 2 work until the middle of June of this year. He indicated that ODOT would initially meet with the Springfield/Eugene/Lane County (SEL) group, made up of city managers and the county administrator, to refine how the project would be able to interface with elected bodies and planning commissions. He commented that planning projects helped ODOT be successful in building technical information. Because it was an interstate freeway and "the backbone of West Coast economy," he noted there was some interface with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and its interchange designers and overseers. Mr. Boyatt said technical analysis would be conducted in five segments: 1) An environmental scan; 2) A conceptual design; 3) Preliminary engineering; 4) Preliminary traffic analysis; 5) A look at finance options. Mr. Boyatt predicted there would be a significant price tag for the entire project. He hoped through the course of the project, discrete segments could be identified as stand alone projects through the research and technical work. Mr. Boyatt stated that the environmental scan would be a high level review of existing information. He said it was hoped that ODOT could glean what it could from the detour structure work and from the replacement structure work. He reiterated that ODOT would pay for a site visit and the mining of the data that was there in order to better understand the environmental conditions. He felt conceptual design was fairly self- explanatory. Preliminary engineering was important, he said, due to federal standards for interchange spacing on Interstate 5. He pointed out that it would also aid in understanding how the interchanges would work, how likely it would be to obtain federal exceptions and approvals, and feasibility of the design and ensuing cost estimates. He predicted that financing would be critical as resources were getting "thinner." Mr. Boyatt thought one resource could be tax increment financing. He remarked that when the public invested hundreds of millions of dollars, it became "immediately apparent" that the value of the land went up relative to the investment. He lauded public/private partnerships as a way to provide opportunities for bigger projects. In closing, Mr. Boyatt briefly reviewed the public process, planned to begin with stakeholder open houses. He said the project management team (PMT) would guide consultants through the process and would then review the results. He reiterated that the bulk of the project was the data development/technical portion and MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 2005 Page 7 Work Session