Agenda Packet AMENDED 4-15-19 Work Session

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Summary of Planning Documents-Bethel Neighborhood 7 As an overview, the Bethel parks planning district currently has 1,722 acres of parks, recreation and open space (including partner-owned lands), with 859 of those acres owned by the City of Eugene, second highest city-wide only to the Southeast planning district in the Plan. Approximately 64% of these acres are natural areas, 8% are developed, and the remaining 27% are for future development. The acreage of land reserved for future development is the city’s highest at 229 acres, and is the second highest percentage of city commitment (27%) only behind the River Road/Santa Clara planning district (34%). Additionally, Bethel has one of the highest concentrations of the city’s courts, sports fields, and skate parks. The identified issues and needs paired with the existing facilities and their condition to develop a list of 43 identified projects ranging from $15,000 to $25 million. Each project receives an estimated capital cost and a priority ranking. Moving Ahead-2018 Moving Ahead serves as a multi-corridor alternatives analysis for bus rapid transit improvements. One of the corridors studied is the Highway 99 Corridor, the easternmost major roadway in the Bethel neighborhood boundary. The analysis proposes three alternatives: a No-Build Alternative, an Enhanced Corridor Alternative, and an EmX Alternative, each bringing benefits and impacts to the surrounding land uses. The plan organizes the alternatives by operations and capital investments. Operations refers to improvements required for a more frequent level of bus service. Capital investments refers to the investments needed for these transit improvements and additional bicycle and pedestrian improvements outside of the TSP. The analysis also looks at the impacts of each alternative. The No-Build Alternative lists capital investments as the bicycle and pedestrian projects identified for Highway 99 in the 2035 TSP. The Enhanced Corridor Alternative identifies improvements to better serve transit needs on the Highway 99 corridor in addition to the previously listed TSP projects and nine new enhanced crossings, two upgraded crossings, reconstructed and new sidewalks, and a pedestrian bridge connecting Bethel to the Trainsong neighborhood. The EmX alternative identifies the highest level of capital investments to best serve the transit, bike, and pedestrian needs of the corridor. Compared to the No-Build Alternative, the Enhanced Corridor and EmX Alternatives significantly decrease transit travel time (by 10 and 12 minutes, respectively) and would increase ridership more than any other corridor (by 111,000 and 267,000 annual trips, respectively). Both build alternatives would provide more frequent transit service. The No-Build Alternative avoids impacts (including property acquisitions, on-street parking impacts, and potential tree removal) and costs, but does not provide the same level of benefits compared to the Enhanced Corridor and EmX Alternatives. April 15, 2019, Work Session – Item 1