CC Minutes - 01/16/02 Work Session

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improvement of the intersection at Oak Street and Broadway because of Oak Street's status as a minor arterial; and confirmed that staff was on track to have the downtown street design standards available for adoption concurrent with the opening of Broadway. He anticipated that with council approval, construction could be completed by the 2002 Eugene Celebration. Mayor Torrey solicited a first round of council questions and comments. Mr. Rayor asked if areas of the project would be raised, and how much; he advocated that because of the narrowness of the street and presence of the median, staff did not need a lot of vertical intersection tables. Mr. Henry confirmed there would be raised areas in the project and identified them. Mr. Rayor asked that staff ensure that there were good transitions between the raised areas and the street. He also asked the minimum lane width. Mr. Henry said they were ten feet. Mr. Rayor suggested slightly wider streets to accommodate both bicycle and auto traffic. Ms. Bettman asked for the details of what would be paid for by the City's contribution. Mr. Henry reported that the City's contribution would pay for additional landscaping, the median treatment, surface treatments at the mid-block crossing of the intersections, opportunities for art and planting areas, telephone booths, drinking fountains, benches, and bicycle racks. Ms. Bettman questioned the classification of Broadway as a local street. She did not think the street had been classified because it was not yet a street. The April 1999 draft Arterial and Collector Street Plan included all the streets around it as minor arterials or neighborhood collectors; that was changed in the November 1999 version. That did not mean the function or average daily trips on the streets had changed, just the street classifications, which changed the way improvements were financed. She suggested that the City was "having it both ways"; for the purposes of assessments, the street was called a local street, and the City was subsidizing the assessment of six property owners on the street, and for the purposes of systems development charges, the City was arguing the citizens should contribute because the street was a community street and part of everybody's neighborhood. The result was that the City used money it could be directing toward redevelopment to pay the assessments. Ms. Bettman did not support an increase in the lane width as suggested by Mr. Rayor, saying the street should encourage slow traffic and facilitate the redevelopment of the properties adjacent to it. The narrower the design, the more likely the road would be pedestrian-friendly. Mr. Fart liked the idea of narrower street widths to slow traffic and because he envisioned the area would become a place where people lingered. He asked about the width of the sidewalks. Mr. Henry responded they would range from 12 feet in some locations to 18 to 20 feet in other locations to facilitate the use of the sidewalk in front of commercial establishments, such as Adams Place. Mr. Fart wanted to see more such uses up and down the street as he thought they added character and brought people downtown. Mr. Fart thanked the Board of County Commissioners for its funding contribution. He asked that his thanks be passed along to the board. He asked if any storm water facilities were planned. Mr. Corey said that staff planned for the perpetuation of the existing system. Mr. Henry described the proposed drainage system, which would probably include valley gutters in the parking areas. Those costs would also be paid from the Road Fund. Mr. Fart asked if it was possible to use storm water funds for that purpose. Mr. Corey said if staff found maintenance or upgrade items that it would normally address through the Storm water Program, the funding was already available for such minor improvements; however, the Storm water Fund would not be a major MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 16, 2002 Page 6 Work Session