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raised. Mr. Dodson added that Franklin Boulevard ramps would also have to be raised and this would <br />include construction of a wall. Mr. Henry clarified that the bridge would have to be higher because of the <br />railroad tracks. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked if there was a planning process in preparation for application for the greenway permit. <br />Mr. Henry asked Associate Planner for the Planning Division, Ann Siegenthaler, to respond to the question. <br />Ms. Siegenthaler explained that there would probably be five or six land use approvals through the process <br />of bridge construction and some of those would require council approval. She said the details on the permits <br />were not yet known. She stated that land use approvals included a greenway permit, a Metro Plan <br />amendment, and a Refinement Plan amendment. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked if there was a design option to construct a bridge with no piers in the river, such as a <br />suspension bridge. Mr. Dodson replied that there was no affordable option for that. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked for more detail on the costs that were arising from things other than the bridge. Mr. <br />Dodson replied that those types of costs were associated with the construction of the bridge and were <br />necessary to its construction. Mr. Henry added that ODOT did value engineering throughout a project and <br />actively looked for ways to reduce the costs. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked when ODOT representatives would come before the council again with regard to this <br />project. Mr. Dodson projected that they would return in a year, after final design work had begun post- <br />environmental assessment. He added that any time the council wished to ask ODOT staff to come and speak <br />about the project they could do so. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she liked suspension bridges. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy was appreciative of the work that ODOT was doing to get out in front of the environmental <br />impact. She welcomed hearing from the community on both the environmental and visual impact. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka echoed Ms. Bettman’s preference. He asked how much it would cost to build a bridge with one <br />or no piers. Mr. Dodson replied that it would add at least $30 million to the project cost. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if anyone had asked Representative Peter DeFazio for more money for the project. <br />Mayor Piercy replied that Representative DeFazio had said that this area already received a lot of <br />transportation improvement funding. She noted that the federal government would be providing less <br />transportation funding in the next fiscal year. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka preferred the arched bridge design over the haunched design. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz thanked ODOT for its work. She said she wanted the bridge to be functional for a long time. She <br />added that bridges did not tend to be pretty. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy commented that the City might have to be more modest in its expectations. She thought it was <br />still possible to make something the community could be proud of. She felt the bridge was located in an <br />important place in the community. <br /> <br />Mr. Dodson remarked that they had looked at the form of the bridge, because that was where the money <br />was, but when the bridge was being constructed they could put concrete form liners or add color to the <br />bridge fairly economically. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 11, 2007 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br />