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[Type text] Attachment A September 30, 2009 To: Eugene City Council From: Tom Schwetz, LTD Director of Planning and Development Subject: WEST EUGENE EMX EXTENSION (WEEE) PROJECT UPDATE Introduction The last update on the West Eugene EmX Extension (WEEE) project was provided on May 13, 2009, at the Eugene City Council work session. The briefing focused on the design refinement process, integration of the West Eugene Collaborative Report within the WEEE environmental process, EmX contributions to addressing key community issues, and the role of EmX in transforming the region’s growth and development. At that meeting the Council requested a follow-up discussion of the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) decision-making process. This process is described following a project status report and a summary of public outreach and engagement since the May 13 meeting. Project Status and Schedule Where we are in the Process As indicated at the May 13 work session, the WEEE environmental process is currently transitioning from a focus on the development of alternatives to analysis of those alternatives. More specifically, the design of the alternatives is progressing to the next step of the process to provide an accurate “footprint” of the alignments. Detailed analysis of the project alternatives will begin soon. This work will form the basis for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and will ultimately provide much of the objective analysis needed for the selection of the LPA by the Eugene City Council, the LTD Board of Directors, and the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC). Revised Schedule A change in the project since the May 13 work session is a 5 - 6 month extension of the project schedule. There are two primary factors contributing to this extension. First, in May of this year, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requested additional data gathering to support the development of the travel demand forecasting model. This was accomplished with a survey of EmX ridership in late May. Incorporating the new data into the model has required adding to the overall project schedule. Second, FTA has requested additional time for their review of draft chapters of the DEIS. This also affects the schedule. The new schedule is provided below. The release of the DEIS is now scheduled for mid-July 2010. The process for selection of the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) is expected to be completed in late 2010. While this represents an unfortunate delay in the project, it is not expected to affect LTD’s ability to apply for federal funds in a timely manner.