Item B: River Avenue Improvements

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vision for the future was a bridge project to connect Division Avenue to Green Acres Road, a project that would offset some of the congestion on Beltline Road. She also pointed out a future project that sought to connect the bicycle path system from River Avenue under the BeltIine Road to Beaver Street. 4. Context for Road Improvements · Transportation Rule and Other Regulatory Guidance . Access/Safety Issues · Oregon Department of Transportation Plan · Traffic Counts and Crash Information . TransPlan Ms. Cahill reviewed the Transportation Planning Rule (TPR), which required the City of Eugene to accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, and traffic and to have a local plan that indicates how the City will do this. She said it included standards adopted by the City Council. The local standards were delineated in the Arterial Collector Street Plan (ACSP). She stated that the City utilized the American Association for State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recommended guidelines, one of which was that major collectors include bicycle lanes and sidewalks. Ms. Cahill pointed to the tab in the notebook called 'design standards and guidelines.' She said it discussed the criteria for exceptions to the standard as well as the standards themselves. Mr. Howard observed that there were three criteria regarding design standards, newly constructed arterial and collector streets, upgrades to raise streets to urban standards, and improvements that would result in adding one or more vehicular lanes. He asked if these criteria only applied to new construction and not existing or overlays of existing roads. Ms. Cahill affirmed that the criteria were not applicable to an overlay-type project. She reiterated that the City would not overlay a road unless it was built to urban standards. Mr. Henry stated that the project as proposed by staff intended to upgrade River Avenue to the urban standard. Mr. Howard averred that the City Council had asked for a smaller road project. Ms. Cahill clarified that the council had directed staff to find out what the community wanted. In response to a question from Mr. Hyman, Mr. Henry explained that 2,400 vehicles travel westbound on River Avenue on a daily basis at the eastern end, and of that it was estimated that 50 percent of the west end traffic was local and 40 percent of the east end traffic was local. Further, Mr. Henry explained two- way traffic volumes are approximately 5700 vehicles per day on the east end and 7000 vehicles per day at the west end of River Avenue. Mr. Hill asked what criteria delineated a major arterial from a collector and so on. Ms. Cahill replied that there was a reterencein the back of the notebook. She added that the qualifying categories included average daily traffic, alternative modes of travel, length of the traffic facility, and connectivity. She said generally between 2,500 and 7,500 cars would traverse a major collector in a day. Mr. Henry noted that River Avenue served as an on and off ramp for the Beitline Road. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 4