CC Minutes - 01/22/07 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall January 22, 2007 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, Bonny Bettman, Chris Pryor, George Poling. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. th Ilona Koleszar , 871 West 11 Avenue, spoke on behalf of a group called Residents for Responsible Rapid th Transit (3RT). She said the group formed in response to the City’s decision to make the West 11 Avenue corridor its priority for the third stretch of the EmX transit line. She noted that group’s email address was 3RT@comcast.net. She averred that using the Franklin Boulevard corridor was an obvious choice as a transit connection between Eugene and Springfield with no real alternative. She stated that 3RT wanted to help identify alternatives to running a transit line through “a densely populated vibrant neighborhood” such as the one between the downtown area and Chambers Street that would still reach destination areas in west Eugene. She related that 3RT met with Lane Transit District (LTD), accompanied by a representative of the Jefferson/Westside Neighbors Association (JWNA) and LTD indicated it had no plans for a third leg of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). They found LTD representatives to be receptive and willing to share information. She said the group learned that each added leg of the BRT system must strengthen the system and not just lengthen the route, which meant that each route had to be carefully planned. She also learned that LTD preferred to study more than one corridor for West Eugene. Pauline Hutson , 1025 Taylor Street, member of 3RT, recently attended a meeting of the LTD steering th committee on the possibility of a new EmX route through the West 11 Avenue corridor. She learned that the EmX sought to save six minutes from the trip, and this would be accomplished by stopping every third of a mile rather than every two blocks. She said this did not take into consideration people who use wheelchairs, which took various amounts of time to be loaded and secured. While riding the bus she experienced delays of two to four minutes due to this procedure. She also felt the time savings did not take into account the extra time it took to board small children, the elderly, and disabled people. She thought bicycles would also be problematic, given that they would be stored at the front of the bus. Additionally, th she said the argument being made for developing ridership along West 11 Avenue could also be applied to thththth River Road, Coburg Road, Highway 99, and 6 and 7 avenues. She thought the 6 and 7 avenues were obvious routes to develop as they were predominantly commercial corridors. She stated that these routes and others needed special consideration. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 22, 2007 Page 1 Regular Meeting