CC Minutes - 08/06/01 Work Session

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$17 million that had been discussed for construction of Phase lA would be redistributed on the basis of the priorities associated with that process; 2) the State would move to designate Highway 126 as an expressway to restrict development and access opportunities to a minimum to facilitate traffic flow; 3) the State would initiate Phase III of the Beltline project from Royal Avenue to West 11th Avenue; and 4) once Phase III was completed, ODOT would move onto other project areas in the state and would not be involved in funding road projects east of the Beltline, such as West 11th Avenue or West 7th Avenue. He clarified that did not completely preclude future State funding for those projects, but the City would have to fully design and engineer those projects before OTC would agree to consider funding. At that time, the OTC would consider those projects in terms of its own goals for the State highway system, one of which was connectivity throughout the system. Commissioner Pap6 invited questions. Mr. Kelly thanked Commissioner Pap6 for attending the meeting. He said he had thought the council's work session the previous week very positive, and credited Ms. Nathanson for her suggested approach to transportation improvements in the west Eugene area. He thanked staff for the agenda materials, saying the agenda did a good job of summarizing the council's direction the previous week. He said he would support the staff-suggested motion related to the next steps, with some amendments. Mr. Kelly acknowledged Commissioner Pap6's comments regarding the fact the State modeling did not support a roadway on the east portion of the parkway right-of-way, but said that did not preclude the local community from finding a local roadway solution at that location that could be locally funded. Such a roadway was contemplated in the staff-prepared motion. Mr. Kelly indicated interest in amending the last item in #3 of the list to refer to "Danebo or Beltline." Mr. Farr said if he were involved in State decision-making about where the redistributed funds were to go, he would not consider funding projects in Eugene. He said that development in the west Eugene area was occurring, and it was predicated on the construction of the parkway. If the council did not find a way to move forward, things would collapse quickly because of the pressure of that development. Mr. Farr noted the distribution of a motion prepared by Councilor Gary Pap6 related to the parkway and asked how the timing of a vote on the parkway would affect the OTC's thinking. Commissioner Pap6 thought if the OTC understood there would be a citywide vote, it could await the outcome of the vote. Ms. Nathanson expressed her understanding of the State's message to the council. She regretted that had to be the outcome of the process. She had hoped there would be a way to keep all or most of the State funding to help the City make improvements to Beltline and West 11th Avenue as an alternative to the parkway. She thought the transportation problems in that area were due to some extent to the fact it was where the State system joined the local street system. Ms. Nathanson reiterated that she thought it regrettable that the money could not be switched to other projects with local support. Regarding the other ideas identified by staff that did not appear to have clear support, Ms. Nathanson pointed out that the council discussed a great many issues, and some did not receive as much "air time" as others. She said that, in addition to north-south connectors, for example, she wanted to add to the list of short-range items an item regarding investigating other improvements to West 11th Avenue to achieve a safer and more attractive community thoroughfare. MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session