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the Beltline project. He noted that project and Project 333, the widening of West 11th Avenue, <br />would require more money than was currently allocated for Unit lA. <br /> <br />Mr. Pirrie confirmed, in response to a follow-up question from Mr. Reinhard, that the <br />improvements at Beltline and West 11th Avenue were a future project that would not happen <br />soon. He noted that the facility was proceeding to failure. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ asked if ©D©T money could be used to convert West 11th Avenue into an expressway. <br />Mr. Pirrie reiterated that, generally there was no funding associated with the expressway status <br />designation. He said the OTC could entertain whether there was something that could be done <br />on the City part of the system that would alleviate congestion at the Beltline intersection. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ asked how the West Eugene Parkway project would be funded by the State if it were <br />still under consideration, noting that many such projects were built in phases. Mr. Pirrie said that <br />there were a variety of ways money could be raised for large projects. Keeping it in TransPlan as <br />a constrained project meant it might need to be funded through federal transportation bills. He <br />confirmed that the project could be eligible for funding from the $400 million recently allocated by <br />the legislature for transportation projects, but those projects must be completed by 2008. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ thought Mr. Rayor's proposal made sense, and asked Mr. Pirrie and Mr. Reinhard for <br />comment about its feasibility. Mr. Reinhard believed that to make the concept offered by Mr. <br />Rayor work with forecasted traffic, there must be extreme geometric ramps and interchanges and <br />combinations of access management and additional lanes on West 11th Avenue. He did not think <br />the concept feasible for completion inside the funding window and thought some elements of it, <br />such as the proposed disconnection of the Willow Creek/West 11th Avenue intersection, might be <br />feasible but not acceptable to the public. He could not recommend taking that direction at this <br />point. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor thought it good news the parkway funding could be reallocated and hoped that it could <br />be reallocated to some of the unfunded projects in TransPlan. She agreed with the remarks of <br />Ms. Bettman as they related to the projects to be sent to ©D©T for funding, and called for council <br />consensus on those projects. <br /> <br />Speaking to the remarks of Ms. Taylor, Mayor Torrey clarified that the council had not made a no- <br />build decision about the parkway, but had agreed not to initiate an amendment for the West <br />Eugene Wetlands Plan to facilitate the parkway. He thought the council needed to make an overt <br />decision about the parkway. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey noted that many pads of the transportation system were nearing failure. He said <br />that the council was talking about actions that would place more traffic on West 18th Avenue, and <br />the council needed to look at itself and acknowledge it made that decision. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey acknowledged Mr. Rayor's statement about the lack of funding for the parkway but <br />said that the elected officials could work with the State and federal governments to get the <br />parkway funded if the council and voters supported it. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey wanted the staff to return on August 6 with a proposal the council could agree with <br />that reflected the items mentioned by Ms. Bettman. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 25, 2001 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />