CC Minutes - 04/14/10 Work Session

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MINUTES City Council McNutt Room Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon April 14, 2010 Noon PRESENT: Alan Zelenka., Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Chris Pryor, George Brown, members. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the April 14, 20 10, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. She announced she had attended the sneak peak of Wicked that occurred earlier that morning and noted that season ticket sales were in progress. She also reminded citizens to turn in their census forms and emphasized the difference the accurate count made in funding City services. A, WORD SESSION: Beltline Highway - River Road to Coburg Road - Oregon Department of Transportation Facility Plan Update The council was joined by Project Manager Chris Henry of the Eugene Public Works Department and Savannah Crawford, Area 5 Planner for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Project Manager for the Beltline Facility Plan. Ms. Crawford provided a PowerPoint presentation entitled Beltline Facility Plan: River Road to Coburg Road. The presentation provided information on the Beltline project planning process and illustrated the design options currently under consideration. Councilors asked questions clarifying the details of the options. Mayor Piercy asked Ms. Crawford what major issues were coming up in discussion. Ms. Crawford said that ODOT was receiving a range of comments, ranging from concern about the footprint of the bridge to concerns about the need for improvements. The public seemed to favor the middle- to high -build options with auxiliary lanes. People also seemed to realize that there were tradeoffs that would occur through the process. Mr. Henry indicated that people were concerned about access from River and Division avenues for business purposes, the signal operation at River Avenue and River Road, and the interchange operation at Delta Highway and Beltline. Ms. Crawford said many people wanted ODOT to close Division and River avenues but ODOT had found that if Division Avenue was closed, all the traffic now using that road went to River Road, and Division Avenue was a heavily traveled route. Asked for comment by Mayor Piercy, Ms. Ortiz, a member of the ODOT Beltline Plan Steering Committee, commended the comprehensiveness of the presentation. She observed she had been surprised by how many people used Beltline. Mr. Clark, also a member, was impressed by the thoroughness of the options presented. He said, at this point, a majority of committee members believed that the split- diamond and collector- distributor had the best chances of solving the problems that existed on Beltline. Mayor Piercy solicited general questions and comments from the council. Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Crawford indicated that ODOT heard considerable opposition to a bridge south of the Beltline near the Valley River Center area, while others indicated they wanted ODOT to revisit the question. However, that was outside the study area. MINUTES —City Council April 14, 2010 Page I Work Session