CC Minutes - 01/24/11 Work Session

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that the plan LTD developed was the plan it was asked to develop, but he was unsure that the council and community had the appropriate conversation about what West 1 lch Avenue should be. Mr. Pryor acknowledged that people felt the impacts of such a project now while the benefits were realized in the future. It was challenging to have a conversation about the future when living in today, particularly when one was still trying to quantify the benefits of the project. He suggested that the City Council could help by discussing the future of West Eugene and transit's role in that future and believed the work that LTD had done in regard to EmX was essential to that conversation. He pointed out the vision of the WEC was not the only vision for the area. Mr. Pryor anticipated that the land use conversation would happen next. Mr. Eyster agreed with the remarks of Mr. Pryor and said that was the reason the board had approached the mayor and manager about the potential of changing the order that approvals were done. He believed that the issues mentioned by Mr. Clark and Mr. Pryor were under the purview of the council. Mr. Zelenka commended the first phase of the EmX system, terming it a resounding success. He found it convenient and useful and said its ridership was "off the charts," and said that was why other communities were looking to Eugene - Springfield as an example. He believed that the Gateway route would "be that or better." He was impressed with the many public meetings that LTD had held and its receptiveness to changes. Mr. Zelenka emphasized the importance of articulating the benefits of and need for the system, which he maintained was "all about the future." He thought it was particularly important to acquire right -of -way for a future light rail system. He maintained that the benefits of the system were clear. He said the population and jobs in the corridor as well as the transformation he envisioned would occur along West 11 th Avenue were all factors supporting the EmX route. Mr. Zelenka maintained that over time, the entire community, particularly its transportation corridors, would grow denser. He envisioned the EmX system would realize travel time decreases that made it an attractive alternative to the automobile and that further it would result both in reductions in green house gas emissions and in lower operating costs. Mr. Zelenka went on to state that the system would result in no reduction in transit services, no financial deficits would be created by the system, and that EmX was the most cost - effective of the options examined. He commended the mitigation that LTD had done and said it had listened to the community, no matter what anyone said. He asked how many trees LTD would plant along the new route. Mr. Schwetz indicated that LTD would plant more trees than it removed. Mr. Zelenka spoke enthusiastically about the physical changes that EmX had produced on Franklin Boulevard and along the Gateway route. He considered the Gateway route much more attractive than it had been before. Mr. Zelenka pointed out that in spite of the "dramatic" reduction in property acquisition, the proposed route would still run in dedicated rights -of -way 75 percent of the time. He also commended LTD's plans to stage construction. Mr. Zelenka agreed that the current businesses along West 11 Avenue were important and should be taken into consideration. He suggested there were mitigation mechanisms and funding that could deal with their concerns. He pointed out construction would not occur until 2014 -15, and he envisioned that the economy would have improved by then. Mr. Zelenka did not believe any businesses along the other routes had failed because of construction. He determined from Mr. Pangborn that LTD did not have to resort to eminent domain on the other system phases. MINUTES— Eugene City Council January 24, 2010 Page 6 Joint Work Session with Lane Transit District Board of Directors