Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Taylor asked why an outside consultant was hired if there was capacity on staff. Mr. Henry said the capacity for the intersection analysis was limited within the organization and there were no staff resources to perform the calculations and gather data within the required timeframe. Mr. Zelenka asked if the same group of stakeholders met over the entire course of the study. Mr. Henry said there were some changes among representatives, but a majority of the group remained consistent throughout the process. Mr. Zelenka asked if the stakeholder group’s recommendation was unanimous. Mr. Henry said one member opposed the recommendation. Mr. Zelenka said he understood that the advisory group would come back to the council with a solution to problems at the intersection, but the recommendation was to do nothing. He was not comfortable with that outcome that would leave the intersection as it was for a long time. Mr. Henry said the group recognized that the intersection was not working well, but their analysis determined that changing that section of Willamette Street would make it worse by increasing congestion at the intersection. He said their goal was th to not degrade the level of service at the 18 Avenue and Willamette Street intersection. Mr. Zelenka asked if there were estimates for the cost and timeline of the study recommended by the stakeholder group. Mr. Henry said it would be an ambitious effort, but had not risen to the level of a th transportation priority within the City, which was focused on Beltline and West 11 Avenue. Ms. Bettman said she was disappointed with the recommendation as it would not move a solution forward. She asked about the cost of the traffic analysis. Mr. Henry said the cost was over $10,000. Ms. Bettman asked how much more it would have cost to factor in an analysis of an Oak and Pearl streets conversion, and Amazon Parkway, to determine the impact those additional changes might have on the level of service. She asked why the City’s transportation engineers agreed with the stakeholder group’s recommendation when they had written the CATS recommendations for conversion. Mr. Henry said the thth CATS implementation strategy was for an analysis of the conversion of the segment between 18 and 20 avenues to be performed in collaboration with a stakeholder group and a recommendation brought back to the council. He said traffic engineers felt it would be disingenuous to make a recommendation that was inconsistent with the stakeholder group’s conclusion. He explained that the analysis determined that operation of signals would meet the City’s standards if the conversion was made, but stakeholders did not find this acceptable because of the impacts on the interests the group represented. Ms. Bettman asked about the feasibility of including Pearl and Oak streets in the further study. Mr. Henry said the complexity of the work grew as more signalized intersections were added and, combined with the necessary land use work, it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He said staff resources did not exist to do that type of work in-house and there was no budget for those activities. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Henry said the conversion of Willamette Street between thth 13 and 18 avenues was part of a pavement preservation project and with the construction of Fire Station th #1 at 13 Avenue and Willamette Street two-way access in the immediate vicinity of the station was desirable. Mr. Zelenka asked if there was data on the impacts of that conversion. He noted that the report was anecdotal and lacked hard data and asked upon what the stakeholder group’s conclusions were based. Mr. Henry said technical memoranda were prepared by the consultant, including existing crossing opportunities MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 3 Work Session