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WEST E[~NE PARKWAY MOD{FtED PR~ECT--.C,~OON~ SISTE NCY WiTH THE STATEW;DE PLANNING GOALS AND TP, ANSPORT^T~ON PLANN!~ RULE
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<br /> Reservoir, the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, the Lane County Fair Grounds, the University of
<br /> Oregon and Autzen Stadium, and the Oregon Country Fair?
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<br /> The WEP also would serve "state transportation needs," which the TPR defines as "needs for
<br /> movement of people and goods between and through regions of the state and between the state and
<br /> other states." OAR 660-012-0005(29). Maintaining an acceptable level of service along Highway 126
<br /> through Eugene and the City of Springfield is very important because Highway 126 is the major east-
<br /> west connector through the metropolitan region. Highway 126 not only serves the Eugene-Springfield
<br /> area, but connects this region to destinations along the Oregon Coast, in the Oregon Cascades, and in
<br /> Central and Eastern Oregon? Until ODOT eliminated the classification recently, Highway 126 from
<br /> Eugene to Florence38 was identified as an Access Oregon Highway, deemed the most important for
<br /> statewide travel. ODOT's 1999 Oregon Highway Plan classifies the road as a "Statewide Highway"
<br /> intended primarily t© provide inter-urban and inter-regional mobility and provide conne~:tions to
<br /> larger urban areas? The management objective for facilities of this nature is to provide safe and
<br /> efficient, high speed, continuous operation flow, with interruptions to that flow within urban areas
<br /> only "minimal.'~0 Existing Highway 126 along West 1 lth Avenue already fails to meet this objective
<br /> and will only deteriorate further with time~
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<br /> Table 2 of the Alternatives Memorandum demonstrates the statewide and regional nature of travel
<br /> along the WEP. As described in the Alternatives Memorandum, Table 2 identifies the percentage of
<br /> trips the West Eugene Corridor, defined as Re al .
<br /> north, West 18th Avenue to the south, River Road to the e~t ~ ~ ......... y~ ..Avenue to the
<br /> shows that over 42 percent of total trips on the facility between the we~ end of the WEP and its
<br /> intersection with Highway 99 are through trips beginning or ending outside the UGB?I From the
<br /> western WEP terminus to Garfield street, the percentage of through trips along selected links varies
<br /> from a low of 49 percent to upwards of 78 pement. ~[~ese through-trip travel needs are most
<br /> appropriately met on facilities designed to serve statew[de and regional rather than local trips.
<br /> The general configuration of the Eugene~Springfield metropolitan area is aligned along an east-west
<br /> axis that, traveling east to west, ~bllows Springfield's Main StreeC Franklin Boulevard and West 1 lth
<br /> Avenue~ Highway 126 is the main east-west route through the metropolitan region. This route enters
<br /> Springfield on the e~stem edge of the region from the McKenzie Valley as Highway 126 and runs
<br /> through Thurston and east Springfield as "Main Street". At 58th Street, the route tums northward and
<br /> follows the Eugene-Springfield Highway, a four-lane, limited access facility. As it crosses Interstate
<br /> 5, this highway becomes Interstate 105, and the Highway 126 route tums southward across the
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<br /> 36 A~ss to reservoir facilities is year-round, although most intensive uses occur dudng the summer months. The Hult Center,
<br />Lane County Fair Grounds, and the Univers~y of Oregon provide entertainment and cultural events year round. The Country
<br />Fair ~ held annually dudng July and draws a large number of people from the Lane County region, statewide, and from other
<br />states.
<br />37 Highway t26 is one o~ only ~our major routes connecting the V~,0tlamette Valley and Interstate 5 with the Oregon Coast The
<br />other routes are Highways ~ 8, 20 and 26. Coastal destinations easily acoessib~e from H{ghway ~ 26 include historic downtown
<br />F~orenca, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park~ Cape Perpetua, and the
<br />eries o~ Yacha~ and ReedsporL Cascade destinations include skiing and hiking destinations at Santiam Pass and VV~llamette
<br />Pass, the Mt. Jefferson~ Mt. Washington and Three Sisters V~ldemess Areas, and the Metolius recreation area. Central and
<br />Eastern Oregon destinations include the cities o~ Sisters, Bend, Redmond, Pdnevffle Klamath Falls, John Day, Bums and
<br />Ontado and the Ma~heur and Klamath Wlldlh~e Refuges. '
<br />38 Highway 126 from Eugene to Florence also passes through and serves the communities of Veneta, Noti, and Map~eton.
<br />39 Further, Highway 126 is an element of the National Highway System (NHS). The NHS purpose is to provide an
<br />interconnected system o~ principal at, ertl routes which wil~ serve malor population centers, intemationa~ border crossings,
<br />pe(~s, airports, public transportation ~acll~ies and other major travel destinations; meet national defense requirements; and
<br />serve interstate and inter~regiona~ travel
<br />40 The ~Statewk~e" and ~NHS" class{fications extends eastward all the way along Highway 126 to ~ terminus, where ~ ~oins
<br />w~h US H~ghway 20 and S~ate Highway 22 near Santiam Pass in the Oregon CasCades.
<br />41 It ~s like~ that many other tdps beg n and end ~nside the UGB but outside the West Eugene Corrk~on Still ether tdps begin
<br />or end inside the Wes1 Eugene Corridor, but do not both begin and end insk~e the West Eugene Conidor.
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<br />EXHIBFr C~I -FINDINGS 23
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