CCMinutes - 03/08/04 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

of either Oak Street or Pearl Street. Mr. Papd commented that there should be other ways to achieve northbound access for fire vehicles and he did not see the need for the conversion to two-way of any part of Willamette Street. He suggested that alternatives to disturbing the neighborhood, such as Oak Street, should be explored. Mr. Henry said realignment between 18th Avenue and 20th Avenue could be part of a broader transportation study of north/south connectivity. He said the conversion of Willamette Street was identified in the 1993 CATS update and raised during the downtown visioning process to improve access and circulation and ease of navigation through town. Mr. Pap~ said he understood the reasons but did not agree with the concept. Ms. Bettman said the trolley study was important and one of the reasons the Planning Commission did not recommend including it in CATS was because it was presented to them with the information that the Urban Rail Feasibility Study said it was not feasible. She said the study looked at a broad northwest corridor for an urban rail BRT route or an east/west corridor and did not consider a short circulating route downtown. She supported Mr. Kelly's request that language related to the trolley study be added to the document. Ms. Bettman expressed concern with leaving in language regarding a Willamette Street conversion between 13th Avenue and 20th Avenue, even though it was the intent for the conversion to only go to 18th Avenue. She requested explicit language that would clarify that the 18th Avenue to 20th Avenue conversion was not under consideration, it would be included in a future study, and any future proposal would be the subject of a public hearing before the council or she could not support the CATS. Mr. Poling remarked that there had been strong objection during public testimony to the Willamette Street conversion between 18th Avenue and 20th Avenue and he supported requests to clarify in CATS that the conversion would not be done without further study. He thanked staff for the clarification that the street alignment in the courthouse district would not extend into the greenway. Ms. Taylor said that a highway along the river, even if it was along the railroad tracks, was still detrimental to the river and she asked that a motion be prepared to eliminate that from CATS. She agreed with requests to remove the language about the 18th Avenue to 20th Avenue conversion of Willamette Street and add language related to the trolley study. She asked if Oak Street had been considered for two-way conversion. Mr. Henry said Oak Street had been considered in the analysis but was determined to be unacceptable. Ms. Taylor asked for more information on why Oak Street was deemed unacceptable. She asked if trucks from Fire Station No. 5 would be responding to calls south of 20th Avenue, instead of trucks from Fire Station No. 1. Mr. Henry explained that fire stations provided back-up for each other and a full conversion of Willamette Street would reduce response time. Ms. Taylor said she would not support any document that had Highway 99 along the railroad tracks and would request the language be deleted. She said that some more discussion should be had on the subject of Willamette Street and Oak Street. Ms. Solomon said it was foolish to take the 18th Avenue to 20th Avenue portion of Willamette Street off the table pending a study if funding for the study was not provided. She said it was important to address the traffic problems in that area, commit the money for a study, determine how issues could be resolved, and MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 8, 2004 Page 9 Work Session