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Ms. Taylor favored the Iow-build option at this point. She liked the pedestrian overpass idea and <br />said that perhaps the ones that were not used were not properly located. She did not think <br />anyone would walk across the area in question any other way. She confirmed from Ms. Laurence <br />that the Iow-build option would improve access to the area in question. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor believed the more the City encouraged commercial development in other places, the <br />less would occur downtown. She asked if the streets in the area would be one-way or two-way. <br />Ms. Laurence said that staff had discussed the issue and agreed that one-way streets lessened <br />the improvements to access downtown. Staff wanted the improvements in the courthouse area to <br />fit with the work done by the downtown visioning group to ensure they did not preclude the <br />conversion of existing one-way streets to two-way streets. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if staff could ask ODOT to narrow 6th and 7th avenues and make them two-way. <br />She thought the streets represented a major barrier for pedestrians traveling back and forth. <br /> <br />Mr. Farr was most interested in the 6th and 7th realignment option because it brought the <br />courthouse into downtown much better than the other two options. He also thought the option did <br />the best job of eliminating the barriers that currently existed between downtown and the river. Mr. <br />Farr asked what options the City had for pedestrians to cross the road and train tracks, suggesting <br />something closer to the Ferry Street Bridge. Ms. Laurence said that locating the crossing at <br />Patterson Street rather than at 8th Avenue and Mill Street was problematic as it had major <br />implications for both EWEB and the Riverfront Research Park. It would help from a transportation <br />point of view. She said that staff was trying to balance transportation and land use issues, and <br />attempting to avoid having the four lanes and railroad tracks as a barrier. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey hoped that representatives of the federal courthouse and GSA would contact the <br />staff and council with any input they had about the council's discussion. He emphasized the City's <br />interest in partnership. He did not want to limit the City's options at this point, saying the council <br />needed to do the best job possible because it would not have a second chance to improve the <br />transportation infrastructure needed for the area. He called for a big, bold vision that would <br />complement the new federal courthouse. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey was strongly supportive of enhancing both downtown and access to the courthouse <br />and thought both could be done. He wanted to ensure that the transportation system served all <br />modes. Mayor Torrey said he was not interested in the Iow-build option, saying that "anybody <br />could do that," and the City was better than that. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey asked ODOT representatives not to wait until the council made a decision to tell the <br />City the option selected would not work. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey called for a second round of questions and comments. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman was concerned about committing to a vision that the council did not have the money <br />or political will to fully accomplish, fearing the result would be four of five more traffic lanes <br />separating the downtown from the river. She reiterated her interest in having an opportunity to <br />review a boulevard-type option and suggested a motion to that effect was unnecessary given the <br />discussion. City Manager Jim Johnson concurred. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 16, 2002 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />