Item C: Agate/Fairmount Transportation Study Update

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Agate/Fairmount Transportation Study Update Meeting Date: July 9, 2007 Agenda Item Number: C Department: Public Works Engineering Staff Contact: Rob Inerfeld www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5343 ISSUE STATEMENT Over the past two years, Public Works staff has been working with the Fairmount neighborhood and University of Oregon to both study and develop a plan to address cut-through traffic and speeding problems on local streets in the Fairmount neighborhood and the functionality of Agate Street as a minor arterial where it bisects the University of Oregon campus. Staff will give the council an update on the process including plans that have been developed for addressing these issues. BACKGROUND Revisions to the Fairmount/University of Oregon Special Area Study, adopted by the council on March 8, 2004, contained two “Traffic Circulation Policies” that were addressed through this project. The first said that by March 2005, the City would initiate a study to identify strategies to improve the function and carrying capacity of Agate Street and that the City would implement the necessary changes. The second said that by December 2008, the City would initiate an area-wide traffic calming study for the streets within the Fairmount/University of Oregon Special Area Study boundary to determine appropriate mitigation for through-traffic utilizing neighborhood streets. For both studies, the City committed to working cooperatively with the Fairmount Neighbors and the University of Oregon. Prior to adopting the plan revisions, the council adopted the following motion: That $35,000 be set aside from the General Fund Contingency and used in the current or subsequent fiscal years to fund the Agate Street and area-wide traffic studies called for in the proposed East Campus Plan and the study results shall be distributed to the council for consideration of the next steps. Besides the council direction to proceed on this study, the three primary neighborhood streets – Villard, Orchard, and Walnut – all have longstanding traffic calming requests and rank fairly high on the City’s traffic calming request list. Over the past two years, staff has worked extensively with the University and neighborhood through a series of neighborhood-wide community workshops and meetings with the Fairmount Neighbors Traffic Calming Committee and University of Oregon Development Policy, Implementation, and Transportation Subcommittee of the Campus Planning Committee. Because the issues of Agate Street’s functionality and the amount of neighborhood cut-through traffic are linked, staff combined them into one study. To initiate the study, staff contracted with the L:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M070709\S070709C.doc