CC Minutes - 01/29/01 Work Session

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Ms. Bettman said the costs of amending the West Eugene Wetlands Plan and the Eugene Springfield Metropolitan General Area Plan to accommodate the parkway also needs to be considered. She thought the region should move quickly to get the $17 million reallocated to unfunded projects in TransPlan that could help to relieve congestion problems in the West 11th Avenue area. She said the mayor was proposing to build half the parkway, which she considered a significant resuscitation of the project. Ms. Bettman thought the best use of scarce funds was to look at the existing infrastructure and enhance that infrastructure with already planned projects to serve the area. Mr. Meisner said that 1986 was an advisory vote approving an alignment, not a mandate for the parkway. He hoped those concerned about that vote kept in mind the vote on the toxics right-to- know charter amendment was a mandate, and would not oppose it in the future. He said that the parkway should be considered in the context of the time. At that time, the City officials had been looking a long time for an east-west route. Mr. Meisner was willing to have staff examine the mayor's proposal. He hoped that if such a proposal was pursued, there was clear signage and lane closures at West 11th Avenue to spare it further degradation. He did not want to have 6th and 7th avenue become even more of a traffic corridor because it was already a barrier between north and south parts of downtown. Mayor Torrey asked the council if it objected if the City Manager scheduled a meeting of the joint adopting officials to discuss the parkway and associated issues. With the exception of Ms. Taylor, who was not willing to discuss the council's decision about the parkway with the other local governments, the council agreed. Mr. Kelly asked that the council receive some data in response to questions that had been raised about the alternative proposals prior to that meeting. Ms. Bettman questioned the precedence set by the action, asking if Lane County would be willing to consult with the City if it choose for some reason to remove a project from the constrained list and replace it with another. She thought that jurisdictions made their own decisions, pointing out that the projects for which she advocated were already in TransPlan. In response, City Manager Johnson suggested that the discussion was needed because the plan was a regional plan, not a local plan. Mr. Farr pointed out that the parkway was also in TransPlan, and the projects Ms. Bettman referred to were included in the plan because of the parkway. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 29, 2001 Page 12 Work Session