Item B: Willamette Street Study - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Willamette Street Study Meeting Date: September 22, 2008 Agenda Item Number: B Department: Public Works Staff Contact: Chris Henry www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: (541) 682-8472 ISSUE STATEMENT The City Council is asked to accept the recommendation of the volunteer citizen stakeholder committee thth that Willamette Street remain one-way southbound between 18 and 20 avenues pending a major study that would identify alternative routes for a large amount of the traffic. BACKGROUND When the updated Central Area Transportation Study (CATS) was adopted in 2004, staff implemented thth the strategy to convert Willamette Street toa two-way operation between 13 and 18 avenues. Following review and direction by the City Council, the CATS implementation strategy for Willamette thth Street, between 18 and 20 avenues, called for additional study and analysis prior to any conversion to two-way operation. CATS Implementation Strategies 1.1 Develop plans including a post-planning, pre-implementation public involvement process to convert the following street segments from one-way to two-way operation: g. Willamette Street from 18th to 20th Avenue; prior to any conversion of this segment additional study and analysis shall be performed and a recommendation and project proposal brought back to the Council for a public hearing and approval. In January 2007, a community meeting was held to provide background and introduce the Willamette Street Study process. A citizen volunteer stakeholder group was formed that met 14 times over a year and a half to make a recommendation regarding the potential conversion of Willamette Street. A follow- up community meeting was held in April 2008, to present the draft stakeholder recommendation before it was finalized. The stakeholder group represented a variety of community interests including business owners/merchants, neighborhood groups (Friendly Area Neighbors, West University Neighbors), bicyclists, pedestrians, people with disabilities, commuters and the 4J School District. They deliberated to identify issues of concern and what data to gather for transportation consultant analysis. Further, review of the analysis aided the stakeholder group in making their final recommendation. The stakeholders prepared a detailed account of the issues they considered in the formation of their Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080922\S080922B.doc