Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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access management strategy contemplated in the study. Mr. Mansur briefly described the approach taken by the City of Salem. Mr. Henry said that the strategy could be implemented at the point of development. In addition, the City Code allowed the traffic engineer to modify or close accesses to improve safety. The City could independently implement a safety improvement project in the corridor that allowed it to prioritize accesses for the most benefit. Mr. Henry suggested the West Eugene EmX route could provide another tool to improve the corridor for both movement and the businesses along the route. Mr. Zelenka emphasized the importance of providing businesses with access, but noted that in many cases accesses were very proximate and he believed that the City could increase safety without hindering access. Mr. Henry clarified the study itself would not lead to changes; he reiterated that any changes would occur through redevelopment, or the City’s direct actions. Mayor Piercy requested information about the approach used in Salem. She wanted to examine the benefits the City could offer to businesses through better access management. th Referring to the intersection at Bailey Hill Road and West 11 Avenue, Mr. Pryor recalled that many of the driveways were in place because businesses were not allowed to connect off-street. If one could get from one place to another off-street, driveways could be eliminated and traffic flow preserved. Mr. Pryor suggested the study provided the City with an opportunity to do something about the situation in West Eugene before it worsened. He believed that there was an impending transportation infrastructure problem in West Eugene that needed to be addressed. Mr. Henry agreed. He said staff was gathering data to inform its projections. As the community grew, so would travel demand, and that could require a combination of approaches that included enhancements to capacity, improvements to transit, and reductions in driving. He acknowledged that how the needs of the growing community would be solved had yet to be determined. Mr. Pryor endorsed the approach taken in the study, characterizing the recommendations related to access management and intersection improvements as “low-hanging fruit” that would produce results immediately. Mr. Brown commended the report. He believed the City should proceed on some of the projects envisioned in the study without tying them to the EmX route, pointing out that one of the options related to EmX was the “no-build” option. Many of the report’s recommendations, such as the recommendation for signal timing changes, could be implemented immediately with significant result. th Mr. Brown said he frequently traveled along West 11 Avenue and most times of the day did not find it to be so congested. He asked if staff had traffic counts for Franklin Boulevard and Coburg Road for comparison. Mr. Henry indicated he would provide that information. Mr. Clark thanked staff for the report. He said his chief concern in regard to access management was its impact on local businesses. Many businesses near intersections had only one access. He wanted to know if Salem’s approach to access management had negatively affected that community’s businesses. th Responding to a request for clarification from Mr. Clark about the condition of intersections on West 11 Avenue as they related to the standard for volume to capacity ratio, Mr. Henry said that the condition was not bad on the City system relative to City standards; capacity problems existed on the State-owned facilities, including Beltline and the streets west of Beltline. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 12, 2010 Page 4 Work Session