CC Minutes - 02/08/10 Work Session

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examples of emerging issues that needed to be taken into consideration. He felt that the existing policy constrained Eugene. In response to a question from Mr. Brown, Mr. Schoening stated that STP -U funds had been used for the North Bank Path overlay and three like projects. Mr. Brown said in reviewing the list of the three priority projects he wondered if it would hurt to add a couple of bicycle projects, perhaps in the fourth and fifth places on a list. Mr. Schoening reiterated that the $5.28 million would be the amount shared by all of the MPO areas, which included Coburg and Springfield and historically Eugene received about half of the allocation. Mr. Brown ascertained that to add a bicycle project would mean that one of the recommended projects would have to come off the list. Ms. Taylor commented that she had not noticed that Martin Luther King Boulevard was in bad shape and asked if it was. Mr. Schoening replied that all three projects were for roads that needed an overlay prior to failing. Ms. Taylor thought Hilyard Street should be higher on the list. She indicated that she would not be in favor of flexibility to use the STP -U funding for new roads. She would support being more flexible when it came to more preservation projects or more bicycle paths. Ms. Ortiz commented that the three examples on the list of pedestrian and bicycle projects on Attachment A were not very comprehensive. She thought if they were going to look for ways to increase the usability of bicycle paths, west Eugene was "sorely underutilized." She said she would look to , the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Update to see how to get safely from west Eugene to town. She would support discussing a little more flexibility when it came to the STP -U funding, but she also felt they needed to address the road and pothole issues. Mayor Piercy related that there had been a discussion at the MPC of being conscious of moving in the direction of preservation and greenhouse gas emission reductions as well as determining some metrics to see what they were accomplishing. She passed around copies of an application that a sub -group of the MPC had put together that sought to indicate where any project was "moving the dial" on those issues. She said it would come before the MPC for approval in the coming week. Mr. Zelenka asked Mr. Schoening to describe the process that the funding went through. Mr. Schoening pointed to the timeline on the second page of the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) and briefly highlighted it. Mr. Zelenka surmised that all of the jurisdictions made their recommendations and then the staff committee convened to sort them out and the MPC made the final decision. Mr. Zelenka related that he had asked Mr. Schoening about two projects listed in Attachment A, the Martin Luther King Boulevard Corridor and Coburg Road Corridor, both of which contained pedestrian enhancements and the latter included safety improvements for bicycles. Mr. Schoening had, at his request, estimated the costs to be approximately $200,000. Mr. Zelenka thought adding those two projects to the pavement preservation projects would provide them with "a better bang for the buck." He supported doing so and intended to add them as an amendment. In response to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Mr. Schoening affirmed that it would be more cost effective to include the pedestrian and bicycle amenities with the pavement preservation projects. MINUTES Eugene City Council February 8, 2010 Page 3 Work Session