Item B: West Eugene EmX Extension Update

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Public involvement efforts include outreach, community design workshops (CDWs), open houses, speakers’ bureau events, Board meetings, committees, and agency involvement. Strategies used to keep the public and agencies informed include the LTD website, four newsletters, and booths at special events, many of which are intended to provide innovative ways of involving members of the public who do not usually participate in projects like this. Material and resources are available in Spanish and can be made to meet ADA requirements. LTD worked closely with staff from the City of Eugene, Lane Council of Governments, WEEE Corridor Committee members, West Eugene Collaborative (WEC), and the public to finalize the Purpose, Need, Goal and Objectives (PNGO) Statement and the Final Range of Alternatives. LTD held two public open house meetings, one public agency resource meeting, and several outreach meetings with individuals and groups (such as city neighborhood associations). Comments received during the Scoping phase were used by the Board of Directors, in consultation with the FTA, in making their decision on the project’s Purpose and Need/Goals and Objectives and Range of Alternatives in March 2008 (Attachments 3 and 4). This included the decision to eliminate the option of an EmX route along West 11th between Jefferson and Chambers. Due to the unlikelihood of future dedicated EmX lanes on West 11th in this segment, this part of the alternative was taken out of the final Range of Alternatives. In addition, the Scoping Process included public review and comment on the proposed range of environmental disciplines to be studied in an EIS. The Board of Directors adopted a Proposed Range of Environmental Disciplines as part of its Scoping actions in March 2008. Table 2 provides a listing of the Proposed Range Environmental Disciplines for the project. A description of the impacts assessed within each discipline is provided as Attachment 5. Process From Here In order to conduct an analysis of the alternative and length alignments, a conceptual engineering- level design must be prepared. This provides enough specification of how the alignment would operate to allow the impact analysis to take place. This process has begun with the creation of one or more sketch-level alternative design concepts for each alignment, except for the Amazon Alignment, which is discussed below. To engage the public in a discussion of these sketch-level designs, LTD held five Community Design Workshops in July and August. A Resource Agency workshop will be held on September 9, 2008. Each workshop had more than 20 non-LTD staff members in attendance. Over 100 comments were collected for each alternative at each workshop. Table 1 below provides an overview of the workshop details. The public input on the alternative design options will be used by staff to refine the sketch-level designs as a basis for creating the conceptual designs employed as part of the analysis of alternatives. This refinement process will include consideration of each design option to: ? Avoid and minimize impacts, ? Address traffic conditions, and ? Optimize operations and design A “Report Back” on the process, presentation material, and public feedback at the workshops will be presented at an open house to be held on October 20, 2008. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is expected to be completed by mid-2009. Following a 60-day public review period, the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) will be selected in late 2009. By mid-2010, the Final EIS is expected to be prepared and published, including 3