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Willamette Street Stakeholder Report Issue Statement thth At issue is the proposed conversion of the two blocks of Willamette Street between 18 and 20 Avenues from one-way south to two-way. Introduction After more than a year of discussions and careful study, we, the Willamette Street Stakeholders Group, formed by the City of Eugene as an advisory committee with individuals representing Friendly Area Neighbors, Willamette Street merchants, bicyclists, pedestrians, people with disabilities, car commuters, and the 4J School District present this report. Major Considerations of the Stakeholder Group City Council has commitments 1. The committee recognizes that the to revitalize Eugene’s downtown core and make the street system user friendly. We also believe the City of Eugene and the Eugene City Council have made other important commitments which must be taken into account in an analysis of this proposed conversion. Among these are: a.consider safety in regard to transportation b.increase alternative means of transportation by foot, bicycle and mass transit c.provide access for people with disabilities d.maintain neighborhoods e.provide an environment in which local merchants and businesses can thrive f.provide reasonable routes for fire, medical and delivery vehicles purpose of the proposed conversion 2. In order to better understand the , our committee current issues and perceived problems discussed the with Willamette Street the way it is. These discussions, summarized here and discussed in greater detail in later sections, included the following items. a.The most commonly voiced argument in favor of the conversion to two-way traffic flow illogical and is that the2-block stretch of one-way in the middle of a two-way street is sometimes confusing to new users . However, the committee has emphatically concluded the belief that the one-way section is illogical does not hold up to careful analysis of the ramifications of conversion to two-way. Our conclusion, based on careful study and analysis rather than intuition, is that the one-way section is not only logical but th imperative to a reasonable flow of traffic and the functioning of the 18 and Willamette intersection. (In the course of these discussions, the committee noted that the one-way thth flow for these two blocks wouldn’t appear as illogical if the section from 13 to 18 had not been changed to two-way.) rejuvenate b.It has been suggested that converting these two blocks to two-way will help the Eugene downtown core and benefit the merchants and businesses on Willamette Street. Extensive discussions about this theory, complemented by first-hand accounts two-way from both merchants and clients, have led the committee to conclude that the thth change from 13 to 18 in 2004 actually hurt those Willamette Street businesses and that additional northbound traffic on Willamette will cause even more problems. ATTACHMENT A Willamette Street Study Stakeholder Summary and Recommendation 3