CC Minutes - 07/11/11 Work Session

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Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Inerfeld did not think the intersection at 12 Avenue and Willamette Street was identified as a conflict area in the plan. Ms. Taylor suggested vehicles traveling down Willamette Street should be made to stop for bicyclists entering the crosswalk at that intersection. Mr. Inerfeld said vehicles were not required to stop for bicyclists in crosswalks unless the bicyclist was traveling at pedestrian speed. He acknowledged that the law was somewhat ambiguous in regard to how vehicles and bicycles should interact in crosswalks, which added to the challenge of knowing what signage to employ to create safe crossings. Ms. Taylor suggested a stop sign for vehicular traffic was in order. Ms. Taylor asked if staff was looking to create connections to places where the bicycle path was signed as ending. Mr. Inerfeld said the City attempted to provide alternate routes at such locations. Ms. Taylor suggested that travel down West 11`" Avenue had become more challenging for bicyclists because of "bus only" signs. Mr. Inerfeld said that the area was restriped and green thermoplastic paint was used to mark conflict areas. Staff had received positive feedback about the markings. Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Inerfeld said a separated bicycle lane was proposed for Coburg Road from the Ferry Street Bridge area to Harlow Road, but the right -of -way was limited on Coburg Road and that would be exacerbated when EmX was added to the road. He anticipated that bicyclists would be able to use bicycle boulevards on nearby parallel routes. Ms. Taylor advocated for more community education about the rights of pedestrians and bicyclists. Mr. Inerfeld indicated such education was called for in the administratively adopted Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan. At the behest of Mr. Farr, Mr. Inerfeld shared information about proposed bicycle and pedestrian projects affecting the Bethel area. Mr. Yeiter continued the presentation by discussing the Transportation System Plan. He anticipated the plan would be adopted at the same time as Envision Eugene and emphasized the interrelationship between those plans as well as regional planning efforts. He described the elements of the two plan phases and provided a brief overview of the Transportation Community Resource Group (TCRG), which advises staff on the plan. Meetings were held monthly and were open to the public and on average, 30 -40 residents and business interests attend. Mr. Yeiter shared the TSP website: www.eugenetsp.org The web site included project updates, notice of transportation- related meetings, and a resource library. There was also a "conversations" feature on the site that allowed TCRG members to log in and post their suggestions and comments. Mr. Yeiter discussed the Sustainability Transportation Access Rating System (STARS), a program developed in Portland to evaluate transportation planning through a sustainability filter. He anticipated Eugene would be a test case for the rating system. Mr. Yeiter invited questions. Responding to a question from Mr. Clark about the relationship between the Lane Livability Consortium work program and the City's transportation planning work program, Mr. Yeiter said the programs were not yet fully coordinated. The TSP work program was established before the community received the grant establishing the consortium. He suggested the programs had the same goal, to determine what a sustainable transportation system would look like, but the intersection between them was not yet defined. Mr. Yeiter noted that Andrea Riner of Lane Council of Governments, the lead staff for the consortium, was also a member of the City's TSP project management team, which added to the coordination between efforts. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 4 Work Session