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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem B: River Avenue Improvements ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: River Avenue Improvements Meeting Date: December 12, 2005 Agenda Item Number: B Department: Public Works Staff Contact: Michelle Cahill www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-6855 ISSUE STATEMENT A conceptual design for transportation improvements for River Avenue has been developed and approved by the River Avenue Stakeholders Group and is included as Attachment A, sections 1 and 2. The City Council is being requested to approve the conceptual design for River Avenue and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. BACKGROUND In April 2005 after a public hearing and consideration of a resolution to form a local improvement district (LID) for improvements to River Avenue between River Road and the ramps to the Beltline Highway, the City Council passed the following motion: Substantially modify the improvements, rebidding if necessary, and then conduct a hearing on the modified improvements. The council also directed staff to conduct more outreach and solicit more public input in the redesign of transportation improvements for River Avenue. City staff developed and implemented a public outreach plan that included 11 meetings: 1. Four outreach meetings (with the River Avenue property owners and residents, the Santa Clara Community Organization, River Road area residents, and the Eugene Bicycle Coalition) to solicit public input on the redesign of River Avenue. Comments received are included in Attachment A, Section 5. 2. Three meetings with an 11-member stakeholder group representing the River Road and Santa Clara community organizations, the Eugene Bicycle Coalition and the property owners along River Avenue. The Stakeholder Group meetings were facilitated by a professional facilitator. The facilitator’s Summary Report is included as Section 3 to Attachment A. At its third meeting, the Stakeholder Group reached consensus on a conceptual design for River Avenue. The motion passed by the Stakeholder Group is shown as Section 1 to Attachment A. 3. Four meetings following the Stakeholder Group meetings to report back to the various interest groups, present the conceptual design for River Avenue, answer questions regarding the design and solicit comments on the design. The comments are included in Attachment A, Section 7. L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M051212\S051212B.doc The conceptual design is shown as Section 2 of Attachment A. The conceptual design includes: 1. Two travel lanes and a center turn lane the entire length of River Avenue. 2. Setback sidewalks and street trees on both sides of River Avenue from River Road to the eastern property line of the post office. 3. A curbside sidewalk on the north side of River Avenue east of the post office. 4. Street trees at the discretion of the property owners on the north side of River Avenue east of the post office 5. On-street bike lanes on both sides of River Avenue from River Road to the eastern property line of the post office. 6. A multi-use setback path and street trees on the southside of River Avenue east of the post office. 7. Four painted crosswalks. 8. Bioswales where possible. In addition, the Stakeholder Group recommended that the following work be advanced and implemented with the River Avenue improvement project: 1. Operational improvements to the River Avenue/River Road intersection. 2. A separate bike/pedestrian path on the south side of River Avenue connecting to the Santa Clara neighborhood underneath the Beltline on the east end of River Avenue. Subsequent to the completion of the work of the Stakeholder Group, the River Road Community Organization withdrew its affirmative votes for the conceptual design and submitted a minority report, included as Section 4 to Attachment A. RELATED CITY POLICIES The design developed by the stakeholder representative group does not fully comply with the Arterial and Collector Street Plan (ACSP) and associated adopted standards for design of a major collector street. If the council approves the conceptual design, an administrative rule would need to be processed to create an exception in the ACSP that would allow these modifications. The deviations for the conceptual design from the standards identified in the ACSP include: 1. A multi-use path in lieu of bike lanes on the street on the section of the road east of the post office. 2. Curbside instead of setback walk along the north side of the street east of the post office. 3. Street trees at the discretion of the property owners along the north side of the street east of the post office. COUNCIL OPTIONS The City Council may: 1. Approve the conceptual design of transportation improvements for River Avenue approved by the River Avenue Stakeholder Group and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. 2. Modify the conceptual design of transportation improvements for River Avenue approved by the River Avenue Stakeholder Group and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. 3. Reject the conceptual design and provide direction on whether or how to proceed to meet the transportation needs on River Avenue. L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M051212\S051212B.doc CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends that the City Council approve the conceptual design of transportation improvements for River Avenue approved by the River Avenue Stakeholder Group and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to approve the conceptual design of transportation improvements for River Avenue approved by the River Avenue Stakeholder Group and direct the City Manager to proceed with the final design and bidding of an improvement project. ATTACHMENTS A. River Avenue Stakeholder Group Process Report for the Re-Design of River Avenue Sections: 1. Motion Passed by Stakeholder Group 2. Aerial Photo of Design Approved by Stakeholder Group 3. Summary Report (prepared by facilitator Paul Hoobyar) 4. River Road Community Organization Minority Report 5. Outreach Meetings – (Meeting Information and Comments) 6. Stakeholder Group Meetings - (Agendas and Minutes) 7. Follow-Up Meetings – (Meeting Information and Comments) FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Michelle Cahill Telephone: 682-6855 Staff E-Mail: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M051212\S051212B.doc ATTACHMENT A River Avenue Proposed Improvement List as amended and approved at the third River Avenue Stakeholder Group meeting October 5, 2005: A THREE (3) Lane road for continuous length of River Avenue with center lane being A turn lane only fully improved with curb, gutters and storm drainage. USE OF CURBS AND GUTTERS WILL BE CONSISTENT WITH, AND SUPPORTIVE OF, BIOS WALE DESIGN WHERE POSSIBLE. Setback sidewalks both sides (5 FT-WIDE') on west end of River Avenue up to east end of Post Office. Curbside sidewalk (5 FT-WIDE) on north side only from east end of Post Office to the east end of River A venue with no sidewalk on south side of River Avenue EAST OF THE POST OFFICE. Flat sidewalks to facilitate use of bioswales where possible. Bike LANES on both sides up to east end of Post Office and connected to bike path at west end of Wastewater Treatment Plant and then CONNECTING TO A 12 FT. WIDE, MUL TI -USE, OFF-STREET PA TH on south side only for continuous length of River Avenue. STRIPED crosswalks (to control speed) at east end of Post Office, Ross Lane and at the east end bike path across from the Orowheat store and possibly at the VA building. No landscaped islands or planters on any portion of the THREE (3) lane road. Street trees to be planted at the west end only in the setback sidewalk area up to the east end of the Post Office. EAST OF THE POST OFFICE TREES WILL BE PLANTED ON THE SOUTH SIDE IN ACCORDANCE WITH CITY POLICY. ON THE NORTH SIDE, EAST OF THE POST OFFICE, TREES WILL BE PLANTED AT PROPERTY OWNERS' DISCRETION. IN ADDITION, THE RIVER AVENUE STAKEHOLDER GROUP ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT THE FOLLOWING WORK BE ADVANCED AND IMPLEMENTED WITH THE RIVER A VENUE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: * OPERA TIONAL IMPROVEMENTS TO RIVER ROAD/RIVER A VENUE INTERSECTION AS SUGGESTED BY CITY ENGINEERING STAFF; * A SEPARATED BIKE/PED PA TH ON SOUTH SIDE OF RIVER A VE, CONNECTING TO SANTA CLARA NEIGHBORHOOD BENEATH BELTLINE ON THE EAST END OF PROJECT MATCH LINE AJ ;;t ~ ,.. ...~; tOo, ~ .~ ...... ~._ " ...1i....~...4 , ~. . ''''1' I . I - .... '\i". - : I I : l:. r: I \ fj : r ...1 w (. ' ~ I ~ ~ f : i t; I =--:kJ.~ 10 r ' , {-, .." \j -~,.>....._. .-- " 'i>t 8NI~33N18N3 S)i~OM ~1l8nd 3N38n3 .:lO ,.ul~ (N81S30 gOOZ llV ~ ~no-' SlN:3V\[j^O~d~1 l:3:3~lS :3 MATCH LINE ~'" , , j .! -.......-- ~- - -- , D ~ ',i ~ ': ffi ~ f, l m - ~ t.::\ , Ai, , ffi 1/ :.~ l a: (J ~ . ~ I -- > , -~----- ~ , i I r 'I"~ ~t ( . ,I f ... ~ ...~ -- ) .;: I. I II .. 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RIVER AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS Stakeholder Representative Destgn Concept Typica I Section From 600' East of River Rtf to Ea st Side of Post Office i 11' Traffic Lane 5' Bike 7' Lane POfleible 5' Bio$wale Walk Cur!? 5' 7' Bike 5' PO%wle 1 Lane Walk BioElwale Cur!? 11' Travel Lane 12' Two-way Turn Lane (Minimum Row needed:::; 69') Typical Section From East Side of Post Office to East End of River Ave. 11' Travel t Lane Cur!? 12' Two-way Turn Lane '~ 5' Walk 11' Travel Lane 7' f OEli!i1 t 12' Blo!5waJe Curb Mul'ti-U5e Pa'th t 2' Shoulder 2' Shoulder (Minimum Row needed:::; 6:3') i} O,w'" 2005 River Avenue Road Improvements Stakeholder Group Summary Report Submitted by Paul Hoobyar, Facilitator The River Avenue Stakeholder Group (RASG) met for three evening meetings at the Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant on August 24th, August 30th, and October 5th. The charge of the RASG was to find agreement among property owners and community interests regarding needed improvements along River Avenue. This group convened as a result of Council direction to City staff to better understand what improvements the property owners and community wanted for River Avenue. The group was composed of six representatives from the property owners along River Avenue: Clayton Austin, Greg Austin, Daniel M. Hill, Gordon B. Howard, Chuck Meeker, and Paul Spain. (Note: Due to family commitments, Greg Austin only attended the first stakeholder meeting); Community interests were represented by two River Road Community Organization representatives: Teresa Damron and Krista Rojas; two Santa Clara Community Organization representatives: Mort Hyman and Ann Vaughn, and the Eugene Bike Coalition representative, Yuri Samer. (Note: Rob Handy was an alternate for the RRCO who participated at the end of the last meeting for Teresa Damron). The group decided to use a consensus decision-making model, with a two-thirds super majority vote as a fall back should consensus not be reached. First Meeting The first meeting began with City staff and an ODOT representative providing overviews of the City and state processes for scheduling, prioritizing, and funding road improvement projects. During subsequent discussion, the RASG representatives held widely diverse views on the role of the stakeholder group, the amount of influence the group had over the final decisions for design improvements to River A venue, as well as differences over the design issues associated with River Avenue and the implications of ODOT's future design changes for Beltline Highway and the Beltline bridge. In fact, questions regarding the scope of the design, coupled with questions about Council's intent and charge to the stakeholder group, led to a proposed motion to raise the issue before City Council: Was it the City Council's intent that River Avenue be redesigned spec~flcally to urban design standards. or is some lower level of improvement that is supported by stakeholders acceptable? That proposal was voted down, 8:3. (Minutes-River Avenue Stakeholder Group. August 24, 2005) (NOTE: To gain some insight into the environment in which the stakeholder group was operating, it is worth briefly noting that comments at public meetings from many in the community, and from a number of the representatives in the stakeholder group process, strongly advocated that no improvements be made to River Avenue until the residents and community had a better understanding of the Oregon Department of Transportation' s future development plans for Beltline Highway, the ramps at River Avenue and River Road, and the Beltline bridge across the Willamette River. While this concern continued to be raised throughout the stakeholder meetings, by the end of the third meeting, the group voted to approve a design alternative--see below.) Second Meeting At the second meeting, part of the group's discussion centered on whether the stakeholders' concerns were a function of costs and assessments, or whether the concern had to do with creating a design that addressed safety issues and met the needs of the community. Both assessment costs and addressing community needs and safety issues were of concern to all the representatives in the group, although differences were noted among the stakeholder representatives regarding the design preferences of River Avenue. Dan Hill, one of the property owners, proposed a design approach that split River Avenue into two segments, with the west end of River Avenue meriting a different design standard than the east end of River Avenue, given the different businesses, traffic patterns and bicycle and pedestrian uses of the two segments. Hill suggested making the point of demarcation between the two segments at Ross Lane. Given the group discussion, the facilitator asked for a vote on establishing two different design standards for the west and east end of River Avenue, and where the point of demarcation should be. The group indicated vl'ith a unanimous show of hands its support for splitting River Avenue into tu'o sections with different development standards to suit the difference in uses for those two parts of the road (Minutes-River Avenue Stakeholder Group, August 30, 10OS. The group indicated a preference for demarcation of the f11'0 segments o.lRiver Avenue, to be developed to d(fferent and more spec{fic standards based on road usage, to occur at Ross Lane by a vote of7:3 (ibid) Third Meeting At the third meeting, two different proposals were submitted by stakeholder representatives for consideration by the RASG. The property o\vner representatives had met between meetings and submitted a proposal that suggested a center turn lane for the entire length of River Avenue. The proposal included sidewalks on both sides of River Avenue up to the east end of the Post Office, and a single sidewalk east of the Post OHice on the north side. Bike lanes were also induded in their proposal on both sides up to the east end of the Post Office, and then only on the south side of the avenue east of the Post Office. Another proposal from Teresa Damron of the River Road Community Organization suggested a range of options for the RASG to consider. These options included: 1) have no road project to improve River Avenue until ODOr s plans became clearer; 2) maintain the road with a simple overlay of pavement until ODOT determined the long- term needs for Beltline; 3) redefine the boundaries of the road improvement project to include improvements for bike and pedestrian traffic for the full length of River Avenue, along with improvements to the River Avenue/River Road intersection, support for natural swale drainage and replacement tree plantings using native species; or 4) accept the City Engineering Staffs original design for improvements to River Avenue. The stakeholder representatives expressed varying perspectives regarding the amount of landscaping that River Avenue should receive as part ofthe road improvement project, whether improvements on the west and east of River Avenue should be included in the proposal, and the use of natural swales for stormwater drainage. After much discussion, the group agreed to the following motion, amended and approved by a 10-0 vote of the stakeholders. Stakeholder Approved Design Alternative River Avenue Proposed Improvement List as amended and approved on October 5, 2005: A three (3) Lane roadfor the continuous length of River Avenue with the center lane being a turn lane only; fully improved with curb, gutters and storm drainage. The use of curbs and gutters will be consistent with, and supportive of, bioswale designs where possible. Setback sidewalks on both sides (5 '-wide,) on the west end of River Avenue up to the east end of the Post Office. Curbside sidewalk (5'-wide) on the north side onlyfrom the east end of the Post qfJice to the east end of River Avenue with no side}valk on the south side of River Avenue east of the Post Office. Bike lanes on both sides of River Avenue up to the east end of the Post Office and connected to the bike path at the west end o.fthe Wastewater Treatment Plant and then connecting to a setback 12 'wide, multi-use, off-street path on the south side only for the continuous length of River Avenue. Striped crosswalks (to control speed) at the east end of the Post qfJice, at Ross Lane and at the east end of the bike path acrossfrom the Orowheat store and possibly at the Veteran's Administration building. No landscaped islands or planters on any portion of the three (3) lane road. Street trees to be planted at the west end only in the setback sidewalk area up to the east end of the Post Qflke. East of the Post qfJice, trees will be planted on the south side in accordance with City policy. On the north side, east o.fthe Post Office, trees will be planted at the discretion of the property owners. In addition, the River Avenue Stakeholder Group also recommends that the.following work be advanced and implemented with the River Avenue improvement project: . Operational improvements to the River Road/River Avenue intersection as suggested by City engineering stqff; · A separated bikelped path on the south side of River Avenue, connecting to the Santa Clara neighborhood beneath Be/tUne Highway on the east end of the (River Avenue) improvement project. NOTE: A number of representatives thought coordinating these projects along with improvements to River A venue would expedite addressing safety and traffic flow concerns in the River Road/River Avenue area in a more systemic fashion. The two recommendations from the River Road Community Organization for coordinating work on the west and east ends of River Avenue were agreed to with the understanding that coordinating the timing of these projects with the River A venue road improvements would have no financial impact on the costs of the stakeholder-approved River A venue improvement proposal. Finally, tree plantings are assumed to adhere to current City policy with respect to use of native species. After the group reached its decision on the above motion, some members of the stakeholder group voiced concern that the re-design costs associated \vith the approved road improvement design could add to the overall cost of the River Avenue project. In conversations with staff, redesign costs between April, 2005 and the point at which a future Local Improvement District is formed will not be added to the assessments of the property owners. Finally, the RASG supported having one or two representatives from the stakeholder group attend City Council's work session on November 28th when staff reports to Council about the River Avenue improvement stakeholder process and outcomes. RASG representatives want an opportunity to present their perspective(s) with staff during the presentation of the process and the design alternative from the RASG to Council. Conclusion While the stakeholder representatives held widely differing views regarding what should (or should not) be done to improve River Avenue, in the end, the decision reached by the RASG at the October 5th meeting indicates a strong level of agreement to address the safety concerns, aesthetics, storm water management and bike and pedestrian traffic needs of River Avenue and the community. As one stakeholder noted late in the third meeting, ".. ,no one is getting everything they wanted in this plan," yet the fact that the group of representatives did agree on the above design approach is significant. The group is now hopeful that City Council will take their agreed-upon road improvement proposal under strong advisement and use it to inform its final decisions for improvements to River Avenue. Final Note: The River Road Community Organization sent an email on October 31st stating that their concerns have not been adequately addressed, and that they intend to rescind their two "yes" votes and file a minority report. While this turn of events is unusual, at a minimum, the agreed-upon decision-making process of the stakeholder group, with a two-thirds super-majority vote, still stands. River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report Received 11/17/05 River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report This report is submitted by the River Road Community Organization representatives Krista Rojas and Teresa Damron. Rob Handy served as an alternate representative and has contributed as well. We appreciate the Eugene City Council's direction to staff to gather more input from the community before proceeding with the River Avenue Road Improvement Project. It is in the spirit of building on the values that emerged from the River Road Santa Clara Urban Services Committee of voice, equity, collaboration and trust that we offer our report. While the majority report covers the stakeholders meetings primarily. we are including our sense of the larger process, including stakeholder conversations and recent developments. We address two areas: the public input process and our recommendations for the actual road improvement project. Improve the public input process for future projects. We believe Council's intent is to increase communication and trust between the City of Eugene, the adjacent property owners and the River Road neighborhood. Unfortunately increased trust was not an outcome of this process. For that reason we are very concerned to hear this process being publicized as a "model" for future road improvement projects. Our concerns are not personal in nature; we commend the staff for their professionalism and hard work on a challenging project. We do however believe the process can and should be improved for future projects. We recommend creating written goals and procedure. Perhaps City engineering staff. the facilitator and interested members of the Neighborhood Leaders Council and this stakeholders group could meet to debrief and develop process guidelines for the future. In addition to the absence of clearly defined goals and procedures, the public and engineering department staff disagreed from the outset about the scope of the specific options that should be considered. The public issues pertinent to this project that we felt should be included were: . questioning the classification and design requirements of River Avenue . consideration of future transportation needs given pending ODOT study of Beltline . whether a simple overlay could be done for part or all of roadway until the ODOT study was completed . safety . bicycle and pedestrian access . trees and green spaces along roadways . stormwater quality and collection systems . property owner's assessments . preservation of neighborhood character River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report Page 1 of 3 River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report Received 11/17/05 Yet, staff made it clear that certain options, such as a simple overlay, were "off the table". The majority opinion at well attended community meetings was to maintain the road with an overlay, create pedestrian/bicycle improvements up to the Post Office and a connector to the riverbank trail system. replant trees and wait for ODOT before making design decisions about the east end of the street. As the process moved from community meetings to the stakeholders group some had heard the engineering staffs presentation several times and were frustrated that so much stakeholder group time was spent listening to lengthy presentations from staff. In truth the six hours of scheduled stakeholders meeting time was simply inadequate to cover the material. A few of the property owners made comment that this process shouldn't require so much time, that they could get together and quickly make the necessary decisions. In the end a few stakeholders did just that, presenting their design recommendations as the final meeting was running short on time. Not surprisingly the process degraded quickly with no time left and no agreements. Ultimately with the final meeting in overtime some of the stakeholders genuinely supported the final recommendations, while others agreed reluctantly in order to show support for property owners. River Road representatives agreed to a compromise that was not reflected in the final wording. It is a sad statement that in hindsight the apparent unanimous agreement is a reflection of discouragement, resignation and confusion rather than true consensus. The unanimous agreement may be fiction, but it's not too late to choose a good compromise. During the second meeting of the stakeholders group we found general agreement on this simple observation. The land use and transportation needs at the west end of the project closest to the intersection of River Road and River Avenue are different than the east end closest to the Belt Une on ramp. Meantime, ODOT's proposed study of Beltline, and potential closure of the River Ave. ramps at the east end of the street, has been moved up and funding secured for scoping in 2006. With new expansion proposed by Delta Sand and Gravel and development of a major new hospital proposed by Triad that could affect Beltline and local traffic patterns in the area, it seems reasonable to wait to make permanent design decisions about the east end of the street until more is known about these developments. Building on these premises. the property owner's desire to contain costs, safe pedestrian and bicycle access, City engineering staffs concerns for safety and long term road durability, neighborhood concerns for environmental protection and aesthetic appeal we recommend: Plan A Build a fully improved, three lane road extending from an operationally improved intersection with River Road and River Avenue west to the Post Office complete with sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides, a pedestrian crossing River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report Page 2 of 3 River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report Received 11/17/05 complete with a landscaped pedestrian refuge at the Post Office and flat curbed natural stormwater drainage systems on both sides of the roadway. Discontinue the fully improved project at the Post Office. Overlay the existing two lane street from this point east, and construct a separated pedestrianfbicycle path on the south side of the project continuing to the Santa Clara community under the Beltline. City engineering staff described their criteria for determining when a street can or should be improved instead of maintained with an overlay during the stakeholders meetings. River Avenue, by City engineering standards, falls into a grey zone where it is possible to maintain with an overlay, but generally recommended to improve for long term cost effectiveness. We believe that an exception to City engineering policy about overlays is justified in this case, given the uncertainties about future traffic patterns at the east end of the street. Under this plan no storm water improvements or tree replacement will be needed on the east end of the road until it is improved pending ODOT decisions. Plan B We strongly urge you to adopt Plan A. If you decide instead to improve the full length of River Avenue now we recommend discontinuing the third lane at the Post Office as the City engineering staff proposed in their original design. We then urge you to recognize that flat curb, natural stormwater drainage is not only possible, but the preferred option over the entire project to reduce costs to both property owners and the City of Eugene, while improving stormwater quality consistent with the City of Eugene stormwater quality goals. This unique roadway is home to the Wastewater Treatment Plant and is in close proximity to the Willamette River. This is an opportunity to showcase natural stormwater drainage for the larger community. Insist upon tree replacement for all road improvement projects. The majority report recommends allowing some property owners to opt out of replacement trees at their discretion. Street trees are for the welfare of the entire community. We believe it is unwise precedent to allow individuals to opt out of street tree replacement programs when streets become improved. We further recommend planting full canopied, native trees where appropriate in keeping with the heritage character of the River Road neighborhood. Respectfully submitted Thank you for considering this proposal. We are available for your questions, comments or to take you on a brief tour of the area at your convenience. Teresa Damron, Krista Rojas, Rob Handy River Avenue Stakeholder Representatives River Road Community Organization River Avenue Stakeholders Minority Report Page 3 of 3 . RIVER AVENUE JMl'ROVEMENT PROJECT COMMENT FORM a ...;; On a scale of 1 to 5, please rate the following statements or elements related to the design presented in spring 2005 to improve River Avenue: I ~ Project Statements (J '" strongly t/isagree, 2 "" somewhat disagree, 3 .. neutra/' 4 ". somewhat agree, 5 "" strongly agree) o The design created an overall safer street o The design was safe for bicyclists o The design was safe for ~trians o The design was safe for motor vehicles o The overall estimated project cost was fair and reasonable o River Avenue needs to be improved o I have received lots of huonnation about the proposals to improve River Avenue Deslsrn Elements (J ... SI7(1ngly QjJp(1u design element. 2 ... somewhat oppose design element. 3 '" neul7Q~ 4 ". $()mewhat support design element, 5 ... strongly support design ekment) o Sidewalks o Bike lanes o Pedestrian crossings o Travel lane width o Center turn lanes o Onstreet parking o Street lights o 'Street trees o Driveway aprons Other or .p.dft..OlIl.....ls: 5 ,... ~ ~S15 ^' () #v dlf1.v.&.. Sf tJL=' () f- PClv VJ~Jf? I -- \tV6&f- ~~S ~ &.=.A\-e t.t,k/~? (Continue on back if needed) Return completed/Orln to Eugene Public Works Engineering, 244 E. Broadway, Eugene OR 97401 It 541 .682~5.560 ~~l t Q.ht'l~~'I l~ . I~ ~/..(.., ~ ({~s~~"VW Co lM'\ .-v-'u::R ~:=- :~1~, M.. ",tt"l .. - f~~l . ~ ~ ...".,(<>-.J~ . ~t-J.t..:[il/t$~.s .. ~v#" ((A ~ ~~$~ 'e. .W\~c: ~, '.' ~ H fA.$ tf;~J - o~ I - J, &t".{" vfltc.......",. f l.:a..prf-Y' -v~ ~ Ii f2"'~W vJ q y ~~If J/t..g~ _ ~ Jer4t j-e - CoP1~;-(..~ ~~.( , ~(.er$"7~ . N~ f~ if f'Je.tL~ 'S.5~ ' c.. "v.~' e. J \\~ ~ \\~ \~ " ~-e- ~~ ~ -- R" A T rtf o t he Iver venue ranspo a Ion u reac omments BIKE lANES/PATHS # Mtig Date I Group Comments 2005 1 June 23 PO Bicyclists prefer off-street on hiah speed roads 2 June 23 PO Bike path prooosed on north side of street is excess 3 June 23 PO Bike paths on both sides is waste of money 4 June 23 PO Summary - Sidewalk on north side to post office - Combined path south side to existing path and then normal sidewalk on south side to east end. 5 June 23 PO Council heard no support going out to broaden scope e.g. bicyclists no truckers. Bikers don't pay gas taxes. Property owners foot the bill. 6 June 23 PO Crossing of River Ave on bikes at east end is a hazard due to speed of vehicles trying to get up to speed to enter Beltline 7 June 23 PO Heard from a couple bicyclists that it doesn't meet needs but they don't pay for improvements. 8 June 23 PO No bike lanes on north side, exception to McDonalds 9 June 23 PO Path stops at existing River oath bv Waste water treatment olant. 10 June 23 PO What do we have to provide for biCYClists? 11 June 23 PO Bicycle commuter, travels south on River Road, east on River Avenue, south on river bike paths to work. Prefers 2' to 5' bicycle lanes on street, minimum a bicycle shoulder 12 June 23 PO Should have bike path off of (south side) roadway. Raised pedestrian bike crossing to slow traffic (like what was done on Avres Road). 13 June 23 PO No bike lanes above sewage olant, connect to bike path available. 14 July 7 seeo Access to bicycle path is from River Ave. 15 July 7 seco Bike access at Owosso. 16 July 7 seeo Build combination bike/ped, surface water treatment, resurface don't do more until ODOT decision for studying Beltline. 17 July 7 sceo Could the improvement be extended under Beltline to Division? 18 July 7 seco Could there be a utilitarian path for bicyclists. 19 July 7 seeo Hardly ever see pedestrians, bicvclists onlv 00 to path at olant. 20 July 7 seco People that ride bikes to Dost office. Bike trail on one side. No need to duplicate. 21 July 7 seco Santa Clara oroanization would like connection north of BeltHne to existing path. 22 July 7 SCCO Sidewalk to Post Office sufficient. Don't need sidewalks beyond. Businesses east don't attract bikes/peds. 23 July 7 seeo What if there is only a bike path on one side, bioswale instead of piping, don't need curb, gutter, pipes. 24 July 7 seco i Why are there sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides, current shoulder wider than i city design. 25 July 7 seeo Bike lanes, if at all, only needed on south side of River Avenue; not enough traffic to justify pedestrian crossings or center turn lanes. 26 July 11 RRAR Bike lane from fiver path to Corliss Lane 27 July 11 RRAR Bike lanes from MWMC to the west 28 July 11 RRAR Bike lanes on road 29 July 11 RRAR Connect bike path under Beltline along River's edge 30 Julv 11 RRAR Direct route for bikes 31 July 11 RRAR Existing river bike path is sufficient 32 JulY 11 RRAR If connectivity under Beltline is made, fumish bike lanes entire lenClth of River Ave 33 July 11 RRAR If Corliss lane connection, need traffic control on River Ave for bicvcles 34 Julv 11 RRAR Joint oed/bike oath west of post office 35 July 11 RRAR One bike lane fulllenath of River Avenue PO = Property Owner River Avenue Transportation Improvements SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization Summary of Outreach Comments RRAR = River Road Area Residents June/July 2005 p 10f9 ESC = Eugene Bicycle Coalition R" A T rtaf o t he t Iver venue ranspo Ion u reae ommen s 36 Julv 11 RRAR Separate bike lanes from sidewalks 37 July 11 RRAR Separate bike oath from post office towards River Rd 38 Julv 11 RRAR Bike lane on one side if street should be sufficient 39 , July 11 RRAR Bike lanes, sidewalk, street lights, and turn lanes from River Road to east entrance of USPO. a-foot-wide multi-use oath one side. 40 July 11 RRAR As a bicycle commuter I won't use the bike path to River Avenue as much as I'd like to because I feel too unsafe. 41 July 11 RRAR A separate bike path between River Road and the post office. Pedestrian crossings - a safer crossino at the post office. 42 Julv 11 RRAR A bike underoass under Beltline would be Qreat to connect to Santa Clara. 43 July 11 RRAR Pedestrian overpass over River Avenue along River Road that bicycles can also use. Pedestrian refuaes. 44 July 11 RRAR Would support one sidewalk/bike path (7.5') along south side. Would support one off street bike lane on south side. Why have pedestrian crossings, no walk-in businesses. 45 July 11 RRAR Bike lanes share roadway; bikers have other alternative routes. 46 July 11 RRAR Currently I support improvement up to and including post office, sidewalks on both sides of street, and one bike path on south side of street. Wait for improvement on remainder of street east of post office until ODOT decides what they are going to do with the east end of River Avenue. then I feel what's required is one sidewalk on south side and share with bikes; center lane with no islands, thus giving semi trucks and trailers more move ability for entrance and exit to businesses. 47 July 18 EBC 2 bike lanes and 2 sidewalks west of post office, east of post office - 12' multi-use path connect north of Beltline; 48 July 18 EBC Bicycle usaQe low because of DOor road cond ition 49 Julv 18 EBC Bike lanes both sides. Sidewalks south side. 50 JulY 18 EBC Bike riders come north of Beltline from river trail paths. Need bike path extension 51 July 18 EBC Connection to Corliss to existina river trail oath 52 July 18 EBC Currently not meeting needs of variety of bicyclists types - commuters, leisure, cross country 53 Julv 18 EBC Cyclist fatalitv in area of underoass a few years aQO 54 July 18 EBC Different users - Youth, touring, commuters. Use path to university and other locations. One size doesn't fit all. 55 Julv 18 EBC Difficult to cross at River Road oath on south side. Connection to Maxwell 56 July 18 EBC East-similar treatment to Goodpasture Island - Delta Hwy to Happy Ln a possible compromise. 57 July 18 EBC Greater need for bike oath west of river oath at plant 58 July 18 EBC If rOadway imoroved, more bicyclists will use it. 59 July 18 EBC Improvements for bikes on River Ave near off ramp (east off) 60 July 18 EBe Maior route for utility cvclists aoino east-west to north oart of City. 61 July 18 EBC Need a way to cross River Road 62 July 18 ESC I Previous meeting Sidewalks both sides to post office South side bike path to end +22 people oooosed oroceedina until ODOT studY of Beltline completed I 63 July 18 ESC Spur of Transamerica bikeway on River Avenue need signage and road improvements. 64 Julv 18 EBC Trucks w/trailers swing wide, scarv for cvclists at Beltline underpass 65 July 18 EBC Wouldn't go out of direction going eastbound along River Avenue to take path behind wastewater olant 66 July 18 EBC Ideally, bike lanes from River Road on both sides of River Road as far East as possible. At least dual bike lanes East to the first bike path entrance with a multi- purpose path on the South side to the entrance of the Eastern bike path entrance. i PO ::;: Property Owner River Avenue Transportation Improvements I SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization Summary of Outreach Comments RRAR = River Road Area Residents June/July 2005 p 2of9 EBC = Eugene Bicycle Coalition River Avenue Trans ortation Outreach Comments 68 July 18 ESC This is an urban area with lots of existing and potential walking and bicycling opportunities. Bicycle lanes on both sides of the street all the way from River Road to the connection with Division Avenue are critical, as are sidewalks. And the sidewalks really must be provided on both sides of the street since there are pedestrian generators on both sides. The pedestrian refuge islands located where the paths meet River Avenue are also very important to provide a safe landing spot for cyclists and pedestrians as they attempt to cross to the street (to get to the proper bicycle lane for cyclists or to their destination for pedestrians). The pedestrian refuge island at the VA clinic is needed for the large volume of clients who ride the bus. They will not walk the extra distance to the River Road signal to cross River Avenue-it is human nature and man of them are either elderl or ill. ESC Sidewalks and bike lanes at least west of water treatment plant. River Avenue is an important access to the Riverfront Trail system, so it's important to have good bicycle and pedestrian access from River Road to the path access (at edge of water treatment plant). This means bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the street east of this oint; a sin Ie shared multi-use ath mi ht be ad uate. 67 July 18 PEDESTRIAN # Mtng Date Group Comments 2005 69 June 23 PO Summary - Sidewalk on north side to post office - Combined path south side to existing path and then normal sidewalk on south side to east end. 70 June 23 PO Discourage pedestrian crossing at west end near donut shop and McDonald' direct to safer location. 71 June 23 PO Don't need sidewalks both sides. 72 June 23 PO Excessive to orovide oath beyond existinQ oath near plant. 73 June 23 PO How are opinions weighed? Bike coalition opinion shouldn't outweigh property owners. 74 June 23 PO Little current pedestrian use 75 June 23 PO Medians shouldn't block driveway access 76 June 23 PO Need overlay and bike/oedestrian path 77 June 23 PO Obiect to oversize sidewalks 78 June 23 PO Path stops at existina River oath bv Wastewater treatment plant. 79 June 23 PO Pedestrian crossinas on Country Club catches debris 80 June 23 PO Raised crossina on Avres Qood 81 June 23 PO A thought: find way to prevent pedestrian traffic from cutting across from Riviera CenterlV A over to McDonalds/bus transit station 82 June 23 PO Sidewalk onlv on south side above USPO 83 June 23 PO No oedestrian crossinos at east end of road. 84 June 23 PO Sidewalk width narrow 85 July 7 SCCO Build combination bike/ped, surface water treatment, resurface don't do more until ooor decision for studvina Seltline. 86 July 7 SCCO Could the imorovement be extended under Beltline to Division? 87 Julv 7 SCCO Could there be a utilitarian oath for bicyclists. 88 July 7 SCCO Hardlv ever see oedestrians, bicyclists onlV 00 to path at olant. PO = Property Owner SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization RRAR = River Road Area Residents ESC = Eugene Sicyde Coalition River Avenue Transportation Improvements Summary of Outreach Comments June/July 2005 p 3 of 9 R" A T rtat' o t he t Iver venue ranspo Ion u reac ommen s 89 July 7 SCCO Santa Clara organization would like connection north of Beltline to existing path. 90 July 7 seeo Sidewalk to Post Office sufficient. Don't need sidewalks beyond. Businesses east don't attract bikes/peds. 91 July 7 seco Why are there sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides, current shoulder wider than city design. 92 July 7 SCCO Sidewalks, if at all, only needed on north side of River Avenue; bike lanes, if at all, only needed on south side of River Avenue; not enough traffic to justify pedestrian crossings or center turn lanes. 93 July 11 RRAR 5' sidewalk shared with bicycle from post office to the west 94 July 11 RRAR Boat propeller guards conflict with raised ped medians 95 Julv 11 RRAR Non-shared sidewalks (only for peds) 96 July 11 RRAR Sidewalk on one side full length of River Avenue 97 July 11 RRAR Stop sidewalks at post office 98 July 11 RRAR Widen asphalt shoulders for bicycles & peds - Restripe pavement for these 99 July 11 RRAR Widen pavement shoulders from post office to east 100 Julv 11 RRAR Sidewalk on one side of street should be sufficient 101 July 11 RRAR I support combo bike/pedestrian path on the south side of the street. Pedestrian crossing perhaps near PO. 102 July 11 RRAR Sidewalks yes, at least one side between River Road and PO. 103 July 11 RRAR A separate bike path between River Road and the post office. Pedestrian crossings - a safer crossing at the post office. 104 July 11 RRAR Pedestrian overpass over River Avenue along River Road that bicycles can also use. Pedestrian refuges. I 105 July 11 RRAR Sidewalks and bike lanes - one from PO to River Road. 106 July 11 RRAR Would support one sidewalklbike path (7.5') along south side. Would support one off street bike lane on south side. Why have pedestrian crossings, no walk-in businesses. 107 July 11 RRAR Sidewalk only on south side. 108 July 11 RRAR Pedestrian crossings in business district (one side only). 109 July 11 RRAR Currently I support improvement up to and including post office, sidewalks on both sides of street, and one bike path on south side of street. Wait for improvement on remainder of street east of post office until OOOT decides what they are going to do with the east end of River Avenue. then I feel what's required is one sidewalk on south side and share with bikes; center lane with no islands, thus giving semi trucks and trailers more move ability for entrance and exit to businesses. 110 July 18 ESC 2 bike lanes and 2 sidewalks west of post office, east of post office - 12' multi-use path connect north of BeltUne; 111 July 18 EBC Bicycle usage low because of poor road condition 112 July 18 EBC Bike lanes both sides. Sidewalks south side. 113 July 18 ESe Businesses not conducive to bike/ped trips 114 July 18 EBe This is an urban area with lots of existing and potential walking and bicycling opportunities. Bicycle lanes on both sides of the street all the way from River Road to the connection with Division Avenue are critical, as are sidewalks. And the sidewalks really must be provided on both sides of the street since there are pedestrian generators on both sides. The pedestrian refuge islands located where the paths meet River Avenue are also very important to provide a safe landing spot for cyclists and pedestrians as they attempt to cross to the street (to get to the proper bicycle lane for cyclists or to their destination for pedestrians). The pedestrian refuge island at the VA clinic is needed for the large volume of clients who ride the bus. They will not walk the extra distance to the River Road signal to cross River Avenue-it is human nature and many of them are either elderly or ill. 115 July 18 ESC Sidewalks and bike lanes at least west of water treatment plant. River Avenue is PO = Property Owner SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization RRAR = River Road Area Residents EBC = Eugene Bicycle Coalition River Avenue Transportation Improvements Summary of Outreach Comments June/July 2005 p 4 of 9 River Avenue Trans ortation Outreach Comments an important access to the Riverfront Trail system, so ifs important to have good bicycle and pedestrian access from River Road to the path access (at edge of water treatment plant). This means bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the street east of this int; a sin Ie shared multi~use ath mi ht be ade uate. LANDSCAPING # Mtng Date Group Comments 116 June 23 PO City doesn't have funds for landscapina 117 June 23 PO Favor of street liahts. 118 June 23 PO Orioinal costs much lower. Take away trees, bike oath south, curb/outter, overlay 119 June 23 PO Street trees should be far enouah aoart for visibHltv. Doesn't need to be a park. 120 July 11 RRAR Don't eliminate all trees keep some River Rd to post office 121 July 11 RRAR Street trees, thev've alreadv been cut! Leave what's left. 122 July 11 RRAR Landscape per stakeholders meetina 123 July 11 RRAR Street lights near residential area. Street trees, yes, please include trees, especially UP to oost office. 124 July 11 RRAR Stormwater swale sounds like a great idea, especially near the water treatment plant. More native vegetation. Street trees to soften sound from Beltline and to beautify street. 125 July 11 RRAR No street trees. Drivewav aprons as needed. PARKING # Mtng Group Comments Date 2005 126 June 23 PO 127 June 23 PO No 128 Jul 11 RRAR 129 Jul 11 RRAR TRAFFIC # Mtg Date Group Comments 2005 130 June 23 PO How much of traffic is shortcut to Beltline vs. River Avenue business. Should be studied first, can it be measured? 131 June 23 PO Traffic count east and west 132 June 23 PO Will roadway be designed for heavy trucks and will property owners be assessed for that? 133 July 7 seeo Do safety studies first. 134 July 7 seeo More worth while oroiect would be to improve River Rd/River Ave traffic at signal. 135 July 7 seeo Need to look at how River Ave should be classified based on other factors such as ODOT proiects. PO = Property Owner SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization RRAR = River Road Area Residents E8C = Eugene 8icycle Coalition River Avenue Transportation Improvements Summary of Outreach Comments June/July 2005 p 5 of 9 . River Avenue Transportation Outreach Comments TRAFFIC DATA NEEDED # Mtg Date Group Comments 2005 136 Julv 11 RRAR Accident data to show need 137 July 11 RRAR Traffic counts 138 July 18 ESC It would be helpful to know the number of cyclists using this area before a plan is completed . TURN LANES # Mtg Date Group Comments 2005 139 July 11 RRAR No turn lanes entire length 140 Julv 11 RRAR Turn lane from River Rd to post office TRAVEL LANES # Mtg Date Group Comments 2005 141 July 11 RRAR Design to slow traffic 142 July 11 RRAR Limit Seltline on ramp to trucks 143 July 11 RRAR Not like a freeway 144 July 11 RRAR Transition between travel lanes and driveway need to accommodate boat trailers access 145 July 11 RRAR Utility work wear on pavement smoothness 146 July 11 RRAR No turn lanes from east USPO to Beltline on ramp. 147 July 11 RRAR Travel lane width - do not widen as that would speed up traffic. Center turn lanes no {perhaps in front of PO}. 148 July 11 RRAR Travel lane width - keep road narrow enough to keep traffic slow. Center turn lanes to post office. 149 July 11 RRAR Improve merge lanes onto Beltline at eat end of River Avenue. 150 July 11 RRAR Center turn lanes and on street parking not required. 151 July 11 RRAR Travel lane width as required. Center turn lanes not needed; too many businesses. STORM # Mtg Date Group Comments 2005 152 June 23 PO Some improvements needed. Stormwater curb/~utter/sidewalk 153 June 23 PO Why create all the impervious surface for little pedestrian activitv 154 July 7 seco Correct the roads and sewers but nothin~ else is needed! 155 July 7 SCCO What if there is only a bike path on one side, bioswale instead of piping, don't need curb, gutter, pipes. 156 Julv 11 RRAR Alona wastewater - swale 157 July 11 RRAR Manage stormwater to preserve street 158 Julv 11 RRAR More natural stormwater like swales 159 July 11 RRAR Stormwater treatment like alona freewaY 160 July 11 RRAR Stormwater -- utilize natural percolating functions of soil; swale/ditch to coHect water and let drain into ground before it needs to be processed 161 July 18 ESC Use natural drainage system PO = Property Owner SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization RRAR = River Road Area Residents ESC = Eugene Bicyde Coalition River Avenue Transportation Improvements Summary of Outreach Comments June/July 2005 p 60f9 River Avenue Transportation Outreach Comments OTHER # Meeting Group Comments Date 2005 162 June 23 PO As a taxoayer, waste of money and timeu(no extended process}. 163 June 23 PO Can't predict what ODOT will do. Not prudent to make decisions based on ODOT prediction. 164 June 23 PO Could project be delayed until ODOT makes a decision on ramo? 165 June 23 PO Council heard no support going out to broaden scope e.g. bicyclists no truckers. Bikers don't oav aas taxes. Prooertv owners foot the bill. 166 June 23 PO Curves on Avres Rd not safe 167 June 23 PO Heard from a couple bicyclists that it doesn't meet needs but they don't pay for improvements. 168 June 23 PO How are opinions weighed? Bike coalition opinion shouldn't outweigh property owners. 169 June 23 PO If BeltHne access closed current roadway design not applicable. Design costs should be reasonable. 170 June 23 PO If ODOT ramp closed, functional class could chanae even local street. 171 June 23 PO Need overlay and bike/oedestrian oath 172 June 23 PO OriQinal costs much lower. Take away trees, bike oath south, curb/outter, overlay 173 June 23 PO Problem with improvements beyond post office. Encourage more traffic and ODOT may close ramo. 174 June 23 PO Project will encouraoe more traffic. Deslon more than we need. 175 June 23 PO Saturday Ave. work session preferred over 3 evenina meetinos. 176 June 23 PO Told bv ODOT ramo would be closed. 177 June 23 PO What is the emeraencv of this oroiect? 178 June 23 PO Why is this project a priority when there is little public support? Seems to be a staff priority. 179 June 23 PO Would the increase in oil costs aive less of a cost at same total cost? 180 June 23 PO Please do not abandon this project. This would be my wish list: keep turn lane from Ross lane to River Road; eliminate vegetation/treeslfrufru?; keep street liohts; speed control; multi-use bike/oed oath/walkway; draina~e. 181 June 23 PO The issue was never about these questions but about importance of such an extensive improvement and its costs and changes caused by ODOT changes. Most important -- wait for ODOT. 1, improvement needed west end up to post office. 182 June 23 PO No center turn lane except at post office 183 JulY 7 SCCO Accelerate ODOT studv - talk with them. 184 July 7 SCCO Actual costs higher than presented by staff. Padd ed project costs passed on to orooertyowners. 185 July 7 SCCO Are there other fundina sources such as ADA, parks, etc? 186 July 7 SCCO Build combination bike/ped, surface water treatment, resurface don't do more until ODOT decision for studvinq Beltline. 187 Julv 7 SCCO Correct the roads and sewers but nothinQ else is needed! 188 July 7 SCCO Could the funds for this proiect be used for somethino more needy? 189 July 7 SCCO Delta Sand & Gravel company benefiting but not contributing, extend project so they will. 190 July 7 sceo First west 800' of project. most emohasls. Then truck traffic at end. 191 July 7 SCCO If County can do McKenzie View for $827,000 why does the City need to spend over $2 million for River Ave.? 192 July 7 seeo Need to talk to ODOT before oroceedina. Decision from ODOT. 193 July 7 SCCO People access Beltline from River Ave because River Road clogged ODOT project may chanoe traffic flow. PO = Property Owner SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization RRAR = River Road Area Residents EBe = Eugene Bicycle Coalition River Avenue Transportation Improvements Summary of Outreach Comments June/July 2005 p 7 of 9 R" A T rtaf o t he t Iver venue ranspo Ion u reac ommen s 194 July 7 SCCO Property owner didn't get credits for previous SOC payments. 195 July 7 SCCO Traveling road show be accompanied by elected officials. 196 July 7 SCCO Wait until OOOT does this study before doing this study. 197 July 7 SCCO What's the hurry? City staff trying to sell project and community doesn't want. Waste of monev. 198 July 7 SCCO Correct the roads and sewers but nothing else is needed! 199 July 7 SCCO Once again, City staff have spent their time and our money designing a project (1) without sufficient study of the need {2} without taking the pulse of public opinion and input (3) without a very clear sense of what OoOT plans to do that directly relates to this project, and (4) without leveling honestly with citizens and with city council. Please be sure city council and the mayor Qet copies of this. 200 July 11 RRAR Add siQn on Silver Ln before counts 201 July 11 RRAR Add third lane on Beltline instead. Wait for OoOT, 202 July 11 RRAR Bicyclists iust trvinQ to get taxpayers money 203 July 11 RRAR Bicyclists should pay licensing fees 204 July 11 RRAR Come back to neighborhood groups before council 205 July 11 RRAR Concern that a couple of property owner can adequately represent all 206 July 11 RRAR Consensus like Irving process can work, If common sense used, improvements could be made on one end and less improvements on other part of road 207 July 11 RRAR Design street to slow traffic "Unsafe for walkers because high speed cars 208 July 11 RRAR Do best to make improvements without depending on OOOT (22) 209 July 11 RRAR Don't want to wait for ODOT {4 more) 210 July 11 RRAR Encourage OOOT to improve River Rd-Beltline on-ramp 211 July 11 RRAR Fix holes to improve traffic safety 212 July 11 RRAR Fix potholes, shoulders, bike lanes 213 July 11 RRAR Growth occurrinQ, OOOT not doinQ anything 214 July 11 RRAR Has to be another answer for River Ave to BeltHne 215 Julv 11 RRAR If ramp is closed, trucks will gO to River Rd. Un~e OoOT not to close 216 July 11 RRAR Improvements to post office, not further 217 Julv 11 RRAR Keep staff costs down 218 July 11 RRAR MWl'V1C assessment 219 July 11 RRAR ODOT not providing fair share to Eugene area 220 July 11 RRAR Prioritize options to take to council 221 July 11 RRAR RRCO board hasn't has chance to review 222 July 11 RRAR See little bike-ped on east end 223 Julv 11 RRAR Was a pedestrian death a couple of years ago 224 July 11 RRAR Wasting money on DE 225 July 11 RRAR Will stakeholder comments be weiQhted equally 226 July 11 RRAR Without OOOT decision at River Ave-Beltline you may be wasting money 227 July 11 RRAR River Avenue should be improved UP to the post office. 228 July 11 RRAR Minimum travel lane width. 229 July 11 RRAR On street parking not necessary; businesses have their own lots. 230 July 11 RRAR It seems wisest to wait and see what ODOT's plans are for the area. The highest use is from RR to the PO -- improve that with ped/bike path, perhaps ped island. Very important to keep speed down; don't want to turn it into a freeway. 231 July 11 RRAR I receive no information until this meeting. I agree with improving River Avenue from River Road UP to the Post Office. 232 July 11 RRAR I haven't seen the desiqn vet. 233 July 11 RRAR Improve sighting westward from Post Office, so vehicles can tum both ways onto River Avenue. Removing the big shrub on the front of the house that was removed PO = Property Owner SCCO = Santa Clara Community Organization RRAR = River Road Area Residents ESC = Eugene Bicycle Coalition River Avenue Transportation Improvements Summary of Outreach Comments June/July 2005 p 8 of 9 R. A T o he Iver venue ransportatlon utreac omments would be a biQ help. 234 July 11 RRAR Charging 50% of cost to property owners seems arbitrary. Is there a way of assessing the costs on a more equitable formula based on regional use vs. local neiohborhood use. 235 July 11 RRAR Street trees with road repair monies??? Do basic street repair overlay until ODOT decision. Defer proiect until ODOT decision. 236 July 11 RRAR This is a business area supporting small business with own off street parking. Curbs and water drains and overlay needed. Street may be blocked in future. Only simple maintenance should be done tm ODOT makes decision on Beltline. 237 July 11 RRAR Currently I support improvement up to and including post office, sidewalks on both sides of street, and one bike path on south side of street. Wait for improvement on remainder of street east of post office until OOOT deCides what they are going to do with the east end of River Avenue. then I feel what's required is one sidewalk on south side and share with bikes; center lane with no islands, thus giving semi trucks and trailers more move ability for entrance and exit to businesses. 238 July 18 ESC Don't create needless impervious surface 239 July 18 ESC Don't want to set orecedent that we won't build facilities because it's expensive. 240 July 18 EBC ODOT should add third lane on Beltline 241 July 18 ESe Previous meeting Sidewalks both sides to post office South side bike path to end +22 ceo ole opposed proceedina until OOOT studY of Beltllne completed 242 July 18 ESC We don't have to build anvthinQ elaborate 243 July 18 SCCO OOOT's ambiguous plans for Beltline on ramp are confusing to the project. Clarification would help. 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'" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" II ~ ~~ ~ I~l ~ : It ~ II f.~~ ~5 II iJ ~ ~. i?&.;oai ~ g' ~~ ~ ~s: w il ..; ii~iilli$ jdUdU il~iltliji Until!). I 0~H'ifhtt [ '" .. ~ .. !.. ;Jl 1 G .. iit 0> .1 i u '" i i "' '" il 0> '" :::~ '" ....::...1 <l!l '" 12 il ~ ~ r~ i I~ : ; i'it z c:<" \(] ! ,;i ~ ;:,i ~ .,; ~ .. ~ .; ~ '" '" ~ N ~ .,; ;! N :g .; ~ '" r;s .; '" .... <'l ;:! N i oj N ;;; on <0 .,; rg .; ~ ,,; Memo FR: Paul Hoobyar, Watershed Initiatives, LLC TO: River Avenue Stakeholder Group RE: Preliminary Agend~ Meeting #1 DA: August 15, 2005 Below is a proposed agenda for your review for the first meeting of the River Avenue Stakeholder Group. I've developed this tentative agenda on the assumption that the stakeholder group will meet three times over the course of approximately one month. Please review the proposed agenda and respond to me with comments/suggestions by Monday, August 22ml. I will then revise the agenda based on comments received. Also, a number of group members have requested contact information for other stakeholders in the group. I am enclosing a list of the stakeholders, along with their contact information, in response to these requests. River Avenue Stakebolder Group Proposed Agenda First Meeting~-August 24th, 7-9:00 pm Introductions/Welcome . Agenda review/approval . Meeting agreements . Process overview . Questions & Answers Understanding the Problem . Brief review of Staff proposal and City Council response . - Context for Road Improvements · Transportation Rule and other regulatory guidance · Access/safety issues · ODOT's plan · Traffic counts and crash information . Transplan (regional plan for future transportation improvements) . What's "on" and "off' the table for road improvements to River Avenue from City staffs perspective . Question and Answer session Problem Identification . Clarification of the current condition of, and problem with, River Avenue Next Steps . Scheduling and purpose of subsequent meetings (bring calendars) MINUTES River A venue Stakeholder Group Wastewater F acUity Meeting Room - 410 River Avenue August 24, 2005 7 p.m. PRESENT: Paul Hoobyar, Facilitator; Ann Vaughn, Mort Hyman, Santa Clara Community Organiza- tion; Krista Rojas, Teresa Damron, River Road Community Organization; Chuck Meeker, Gordon Howard, Daniel Hill, Paul Spain, Greg Austin, Clayton Austin, Property owners; Y uri Samer, Eugene Bicycle Coalition; Tom Boyatt, Oregon Department ofTransporta- tion staff; Peter Ruffier, Director Wastewater Division; Michelle Cahill, Mark Schoening, Chris Henry, Eric Jones, Joe Ramirez, Lee Shoemaker, Eugene Public Works Department staff and 16 interested parties in the audience. 1. Agenda Review/Approval Mr. Hoobyar welcomed the members of the group to the meeting and introduced himself. At his request, the members of the group introduced themselves. Mr. Hoobyar explained that the stakeholder process sought to provide an opportunity for representatives of the River Avenue area to come up with design alternatives to the one proposed by the City. He noted that some wondered why everyone who was affected by the plan was not at the table and clarified that, from a process standpoint, the issue was complex with much information to be considered including regulatory contexts, and budgetary and legal considerations. He wished to ensure that everyone involved would have the opportunity to get the information and share it with each other. He underscored that the people at the table were representative of all area residents and people with a vested interest in the outcome. Mr. Hoobyar stressed that the group would not be the ultimate decision~makers in the process, but the group members had a strong potential of providing a recommendation that would influence the outcome. He encouraged group members to remain in touch with their constituents and to utilize staff as a resource to answer technical and regulatory questions. Continuing, Mr. Hoobyar stated that through his role as facilitator of the group he intended to provide process support for them. He said he would write a summary report from the minutes at the end of the process. Mr. Howard requested that the stakeholders receive a copy of the report at least three days prior to the City Council decision. Mr. Hoobyar responded that this would present no problems. He asked that the group have an opportunity to provide additional testimony as well. Mr. Schoening asked for clarification on the request He wished to know if Mr. Howard meant three days prior to the actual meeting. Mr. Howard said that would be fine. Ms. Cahill observed that the item was planned to be presented at a work session at which there generally was no public testimony. Mr. MINUTE$---,-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 1 Schoening replied that the chair of the stakeholder group could present the results along with a lead staff person at a work session. Mr. Hoobyar suggested that the group talk about the nuances of how the material would be submitted at a later point in the process. In response to a question from Mr. Howard, Ms. Cahill stated that the date had been set for October 26 on the tentative council agenda, but she stated that this date could be moved depending on how quickly the stakeholders group come up with a concept to forward to counciL Mr. Hoobyar reviewed the agenda. No changes were made. He hoped to reach agreement by the end of the first meeting on what problems should be addressed. 2. Meeting Agreements Mr. Hoobyar highlighted the meeting agreements, as follows: . Honor the agenda/change only by agreement; . Listen carefully to speakers; . Focus on the issue, not the personalities; . Be recognized before speaking; . Monitor speaking time so all group members have a chance to sreak; . Avoid side conversations. Mr. Hoobyar decided that the clock on the back wall would be the official time. He said an issue that merited a lot of conversation would be noted on a flip chart for more in-depth consideration at one of the next meetings. He asked that group members turn off cell phones and pagers. Regarding public comment, Mr. Hoobyar was uncertain whether setting aside some time in the agenda for it was in the best interest of the group. He noted that on the one hand it did provide a forum for people but it impacted the time for the rest of the agenda. He reiterated that members of the community should feel free to contact the stakeholders group. Ms. Vaughn asked if community members had access to the contact sheet so that they could share input with group members. Ms. Cahill replied that the informational postcard had the names of group members but no contact information. Me Howard understood that staff would return to the community meetings and report on what had transpired. He thought this would be the best time for public input, though he would not object to sharing his contact information. Mr. Hoobyar decided to pass around a sign-up sheet for stakeholder members to provide their preferred contact information. Mr. Schoening said he would post the contact information on the City's Web site. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24. 2005 Page 2 3. Brief Review of Staff Proposal and City Council Response Ms. Cahill pointed out that Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart and City Councilor Gary Pape were in the audience. She introduced the Public Works staff members who were present and thanked Mr. Ruffier for allowing the meeting to convene at the Wastewater Facility. Ms. Cahill noted that the stakeholder notebooks were missing some public comments and indicated that copies of the comments had been distributed to group members for inclusion in the notebook. Ms. Cahill provided a brief overview of the project. outlined in the attachment entitled River Avenue Improvement Project; Project Background Iltformation. She explained that the City had been considering road improvements to River Avenue for 20 years and reviewed the history of the project from when it had been included in the TransPlan in 1986 to the present activities of the stakeholder group. Ms. Cahill reviewed the council direction - of four options ranging from abandon the project to move forward with forming the local improvement district and constructing the project the Council chose to direct staff to substantially modify the design and rebid the project if necessary. Ms. Cahill highlighted the outreach to the community staff had undertaken, including the mailing of 6,000 postcards. She stated that, to date. 243 comments had been received. Staff had also presented at four public meetings and provided surveys to those in attendance. She said the surveys were summarized for the group. Ms. Cahill explained that traffic analyses to measure the car and bicycle traffic had utilized tubes stretched across the road at several locations and a traffic analyst who observed traffic patterns during the peak traffic time of the day. In response to a question from Ms. Rojas, Ms. Cahill said bicycle traffic was counted on the bicycle path and not on River Avenue itself. Mr. Samer asked if any effort had been made to make a seasonal adjustment to the count. Mr. Henry replied that there was a method to do so but it had not been applied in this case. Ms. Cahill reviewed the "crash history" of the road and the pavement rating. She said pavement was analyzed by a person walking the road and scoring points for wear and tear. A road could be repaired with an overlay if it scored at least 70 and would require complete reconstruction with a score of 50. She indicated that River Avenue had scored 69 at the west end, 59 in the middle, and 54 at the east end. Ms. Cahill underscored that the TransPlan was a metropolitan-wide planning document that the three agencies, Springfield, Eugene, and Lane County, worked through and adopted. She stated that the TransPlan integrated reasonable response to growth, fiscal responsibility, and community expectation with an emphasis on all modes of transportation. The result of the TransPlan was the 20-year fiscally constrained list of projects and the trending and anticipation of future needs beyond 20 years. County Commissioner Anna Morrison arrived. Ms. Cahill reviewed TransPlan maps and tables included in the stakeholder notebooks. She noted that one MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 3 vision for the future was a bridge project to connect Division Avenue to Green Acres Road, a project that would offset some of the congestion on Beltline Road. She also pointed out a future project that sought to connect the bicycle path system from River Avenue under the BeltIine Road to Beaver Street. 4. Context for Road Improvements · Transportation Rule and Other Regulatory Guidance . Access/Safety Issues · Oregon Department of Transportation Plan · Traffic Counts and Crash Information . TransPlan Ms. Cahill reviewed the Transportation Planning Rule (TPR), which required the City of Eugene to accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, and traffic and to have a local plan that indicates how the City will do this. She said it included standards adopted by the City Council. The local standards were delineated in the Arterial Collector Street Plan (ACSP). She stated that the City utilized the American Association for State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recommended guidelines, one of which was that major collectors include bicycle lanes and sidewalks. Ms. Cahill pointed to the tab in the notebook called 'design standards and guidelines.' She said it discussed the criteria for exceptions to the standard as well as the standards themselves. Mr. Howard observed that there were three criteria regarding design standards, newly constructed arterial and collector streets, upgrades to raise streets to urban standards, and improvements that would result in adding one or more vehicular lanes. He asked if these criteria only applied to new construction and not existing or overlays of existing roads. Ms. Cahill affirmed that the criteria were not applicable to an overlay-type project. She reiterated that the City would not overlay a road unless it was built to urban standards. Mr. Henry stated that the project as proposed by staff intended to upgrade River Avenue to the urban standard. Mr. Howard averred that the City Council had asked for a smaller road project. Ms. Cahill clarified that the council had directed staff to find out what the community wanted. In response to a question from Mr. Hyman, Mr. Henry explained that 2,400 vehicles travel westbound on River Avenue on a daily basis at the eastern end, and of that it was estimated that 50 percent of the west end traffic was local and 40 percent of the east end traffic was local. Further, Mr. Henry explained two- way traffic volumes are approximately 5700 vehicles per day on the east end and 7000 vehicles per day at the west end of River Avenue. Mr. Hill asked what criteria delineated a major arterial from a collector and so on. Ms. Cahill replied that there was a reterencein the back of the notebook. She added that the qualifying categories included average daily traffic, alternative modes of travel, length of the traffic facility, and connectivity. She said generally between 2,500 and 7,500 cars would traverse a major collector in a day. Mr. Henry noted that River Avenue served as an on and off ramp for the Beitline Road. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 4 Mr. Howard alleged that a footnote bumped River Avenue into being a major collector and this was a subjective judgment. Ms. Cahill replied that zoning was absolute and not subjective. She reminded the group that the street plan had been through a public process and approved by the Planning Commission and then the City Council. Mr. Spain asked fur definitions of 'financially constrained roadway project' and 'programmed' and 'un- programmed' projects. Ms. Cahill clarified that, in looking at projections of revenues, a financially constrained project was a project that the City thought it could afford within the next 20 years. She said a programmed project was in the six-year window of projects the City thought it could afford and an un- programmed project feU outside of the six-year window and had no funding proposed to be programmed for it at this time. Mr. Spain observed that in considering a decision to do an overlay on the street versus a decision to redesign it, an overlay would not be considered fiscally prudent given the short life span of the repair. He thought it would be fair to assume that the City made this decision with fiscal prudence. Ms. Cahill asked Transportation Planner for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Region 2, Tom Boyatt, to speak to the group. Mr. Boyatt explained that he was the south region long-range transportation planner and that he interfaced with the Metropolitan Policy Organization (MPO), Lane County, and the 11 cities in Lane County. He said projects such as the one planned for River A venue were modernization projects. He related that the Beltline Highway currently carried 83,000 vehicles per day, a higher volume than Interstate 5 carried through the metro-area, and because of this high volume and congestion, and exiting safety problems it was an ODOT priority to make improvements. Mr. Boyatt outlined the process by which a project was funded and built, which he observed was lengthy and "tedious." He said the MPO prioritized the local priorities on the State system on a two-year ongoing basis. He stated that this priority list was forwarded to the Lane County Board of Commissioners, which weighed urban priorities and rural priorities and brought those to Region 2. He explained that Region 2 consisted of nine counties and 60 cities. He underscored that requests for projects outdistanced the funding to build them. He noted that the State was in the midst of a major bridge building program. Continuing, Mr. Boyatt said the Board of Commissioners had brought the Beltline Highway to the process the previous year as a priority to begin looking into improving the facility. He stated that the board had been able to secure $1 million in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) as seed money for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assessment process. He said this process was used to go through and check the alternatives and, with stakeholders from the different agencies and the public, arrive at a preferred alternative which could then be funded. He related that ODOT had internal guidance and policy guidance from the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) as wen as from its administrative rule and had been told to do its planning before the NEPA assessment. He clarified that in order for ODOT to be able to program $1 million to begin the NEPA process on the Beltline project, the region planning group had to commit to do refinement planning 011 Beltline so that ODOT could identify on a higher level what costs and impacts might be and what alternatives would and would not work. He called it a "pre-NEPA stage that culminates in plan amendments." He observed that at this point the segment of Be1tline Highway that was being looked at was 011 the 'futures list' in MPO Regional MfNUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 5 Transportation Plan RTP). The Federal Highway Administration (FHW A) would not sign a NEPA document until the project was on the 'constrained list' in the RTP. He defined the financial constraint list as a "salary cap," because it was based on the reasonable projection of revenues out 20 years. He explained that at this point, the projects were "bumped up against the salary cap." He said some projects would have to be built and new revenues realized before more projects could be added to the constrained list. He speculated that the environmental impact project could cost $2.5 million, and it was now programmed at $1 million. Mr. Boyatt stated that the Interstate 5/Beltline Road project began systems planning in 1995, made it "into NEPA" in 1998. and the first phase of it would likely go to bid this year. He underscored that this was a good example of how long the process could take in a best case scenario. In response to Mr. Howard, Mr. Boyatt clarified that the funding was listed in the STIP for 2009 and, between August and December in 2006, he would scope a project on the Beltline Highway segment between River Road and the Delta Highway. The refinement planning effort would occur between 2006 and 2009. He said that work would set up a NEPA project for 2009, but that the full funding for NEPA would need to be identified and programmed. Gordon Howard: "Given those facts as you've laid them out timewise, it would seem logical to me that it could lay into your plans that we've (unintelligible) this intersection at the end of River Avenue which was scheduled for 2008. So it sounds to me like this entire process (unintelligible) ... ..as much on schedule as you can." Tom Boyatt: "It seems the push through River Avenue would be to maintain the connection within the project that we can anticipate. The local connection and the parallel system are recognized by ODOT as taking pressure offthe streets system. They're often not easier investments to make but certainly less costly investments to make, so often the State participates in making those improvements to carry some of that load. But, you know, we take the River Avenue route and local connection, maybe not so much the connection to the highway, that local circulation as a given and whatever process we go through we have to respect the local system." Gordon Howard: "Are you telling me that, now ODOT has come to the River Avenue owners in the past and told them that they are considering closing that access. And I think if you're now telling me that ODOT has removed that from the table that would be very good information for us to have." Tom Boyatt: "I wish I could say that. The accesses to the highway are on the table. The vagary of the River Avenue/Division local streets are not on the table." Tn response to a question from Ms. Vaughn, Mr. Boyatt stated that ODOT's refinement planning effort would begin to look at alternatives to find ways to add capacity to Beltline in order to improve traffic flow. He reiterated that ODOT had to design a facility that would operate within standards for 20 years and in that span of time a plan for a six-lane road could become a plan for an eight-lane road in response to local growth. Mr. Boyatt said, in response to a follow-up question from Ms. Vaughn, that $13 million listed on the future list in TransPlan was from a very old planning document. He noted that TransPlan had been updated "a couple of years ago" and one policy change had been that when a project was placed on the constrained list, the MPO now went to the owner ofthe system and asked for their best estimate of the MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 6 cost at that point in time. He projected that a complete upgrade of the Beltline Road/Interstate 5 interchange, including the Gateway/Beltline intersection, would be "'well over $150 million." In response to a question from Mr. Spain, Mr. Boyart said ODOThad not settled on a design alternative, but the connectiotls to the Beltline Highway from River Road and from River Avenue were not good interchanges. Ms. Damron thanked Mr. Boyatt for coming. She observed that the "$64,000 question" was in regard to plans that 0001' had for the River AvenuelBeltline Road intersection and the intersection at River Road and when it was planned to be under construction. Mr. Boyatt replied that 0001' had not "set the table." He anticipated having a preferred alternative at the end of the planning process. He added that it was possible that 0001' would end up with a "no.build situation." However, he averred that the crash history and traffic analyses suggested that the project should be started today. Ms. Damron surmised that it would be a few years before the group could have the answers it wished for today. She asked ifhe thought 0001' would have a "yea or nay" on the project within three years. Mr. Boyatt responded that the "yea or nay" point in the project would happen at the concept/sketch level. After that, he added, the project could still be altered by the NEP A process as happened with the Gateway interchange. Mr. Hyman asked if it was appropriate for the City to be entering into a project before fully knowing what the 0001' Beltline Road project would encompass. Mr. Boyart explained that it was not his agency's position to opine on City projects. He underscored that the integrity of the River Avenue/Division Avenue local street system would be held harmless in an 0001' project. Mr. Hyman commented that he did not think River Avenue would continue to be a collector should the Beltline Road interchange at the east end be shut down. He averred that many cars utilized River Avenue as an access road to the Beltline Road. Mr. Spain asked for a sense of the time line should 0001' undertake a major improvement project on Beltline Road. Mr. Boyart speculated that such a project could be ready for construction in 10 to 15 years. Mr. Spain questioned, given that a change to the Beltline Road interchange was 10 to 15 years out, whether an overlay or reconstruction project would be more fiscally prudent. Ms. Cahill replied that the course of action that made the best financial sense was to rebuild the road. Mr. Henry added that given the traffic volumes, which were expected to continue to grow, the need for improvement remained. Mr. Spain remarked that he thought the River Avenue interchange was unlikely to be closed. Mr. Meeker opined that Lane County and the City of Eugene did not receive their fair share of the State gasoline tax. He wondered how the local jurisdictions could receive more money for road repairs. Mr. Boyart commented that he did not work in that arena. He stated, however, that the five ODOT regions received money according to a formula based on population and lane miles. Region 2 received 28 or 29 percent of the "pie" and the Portland area received 35 percent. He averred that the formula was intended to be a fair way to distribute the revenue. He noted that Oregon had done well with federal earmarking of funds doled in six~year authorization packages, with $20 million for the lnterstate 5/Beltline Road interchange and $9 million for the Interstate 5/Coburg interchange in addition to money for the new MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 7 federal courthouse transportation improvements. He did not, however, know how cities competed for gasoline tax dollars. Mr. Henry underscored that agreements needed to be reached on the project in order to get the money. Mr. Hoobyar called for a five-minute break at 8:25 p.m. 5. What's "On" and "OW' the Table for Road Improvements to River Avenue Mr. Schoening stated that the current scope of the project lay from the River Road intersection to the Beltline Road onramps and expansion of the project beyond those parameters was "off" the table. He noted that a plethora of feedback indicating support for expansion of the project would cause staff to submit it to the City Council in the six-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). He said it could be possible to reduce the scope, though. Mr. Schoening said, in terms of design life, adherence to urban standards required a 20-year life which meant it would be an engineered road built to last 20 years with routine maintenance. This indicated that the concept of applying a maintenance overlay to the road was "off' the table. He pointed out that the City of Eugene contained 450 miles of streets and did not have enough money to maintain them in its maintenance fund. He stated that the City had 50 miles of unimproved roads on which the only mainte- nance provided was pothole patching. Mr. Schoening indicated that the TPR was unequivocal regarding the requirement to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists. He said the mode of accommodation could be modified somewhat, such as choosing whether to place sidewalks on one side of the street or both sides. Mr. Schoening listed some of the other elements of the project that were open to discussion, such as whether or not to include a center turn lane, how much street parking there should be and whether there should be any parking there, how drainage would be handled, and landscaping choices. Mr. Schoening stated that how the project was paid for was immutable as the City Council had developed its assessment policy and would not change it. He noted some concern expressed about whether Delta Sand & Gravel & Construction Company would be assessed. When in fact, Division Avenue improve~ ment project occurs Delta would be an assessable property. Mr. Howard did not think the City Council had charged staff with building the road to urban design standards. He believed that the council wished for a scaled down project and would perhaps be satisfied with a maintenance overlay. Mr. Schoening responded that it was implicit in the categorization of the road improvement as a modernization project that it would not be merely a maintenance project. He stated that there had never been a discussion at the council level that indicated that maintenance dollars should be spent on an unimproved road. Mr. Howard related that his sense taken from the community meetings was that the "vast majority" of people wanted to wait for ODOT to redesign the intersection before undertaking action on River Avenue. He suggested that, given Mr. Schoening's position as a City Engineer, he should go to the City Council and pass along this sentiment.. He felt the group was being misled into thinking that it could influence the MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 8 design of the road when it was going to be rebuilt to urban design standards. He thought Mr. Schoening was interpreting the City Council direction to be in absolute support of these standards. He did not agree that the council directive was clear. Mr. Schoening reiterated the points on which the stakeholder group could make changes to the design. He did not look at the Beltline Road interchange as a part of it because as a city traffic engineer he looked at River Avenue as an unimproved tw<rlane road that needed to be improved. Mr. Howard opined that the road the City designed would not support the sand and gravel truck traffic that traversed River Avenue if the ingress and egress of Beltline at the east end of River Avenue was closed by ODOT. Mr. Schoening disagreed. Mr. Howard questioned the need to move on this project at this point in time. Mr. Schoening reviewed the process by which a road project rose up from the CIP, which typically took five or six years. He said when looking at a modernization project such as upgrading River Avenue to an urban standard, the City looked at the funding stream including the assessments and matched it against the projects to determine what could be done within an annual budget. He stressed that the City used real objective criteria to determine what projects move forward. Mr. C. Austin disagreed with the assertion that the Division Avenue/River Avenue connection would be used very much if the Beltline Road interchange was closed. He also asserted that any widening of the Beltline Road would take out any improvements made to River Avenue. Mr. Schoening responded that it made sense to wait to improve Divison Avenue on the north side ofthe Beltline Road for that reason. Mr. C. Austin likened undertaking the River A venue project before ODOT knew what it was going to do with the Beltline RoadlRiver Road interchange to placing the cart before the horse. Ms. Rojas recalled hearing that one item on the table was the possibility that the scope of the project could become smaller. She wondered if the road could be brought up to urban standards to the point just east of the post office, which she considered to be an area where there really was a concern for pedestrians and bicyclists. Mr. Schoening acknowledged that the linear scope of the project was on the table. Mr. Samer pointed out that Mr. Boyatt indicated that the earliest date that the Beltline Road interchange would be worked on would be 2009. He asked where the conflict lay in building a 20-year road that might be affected by a project tentatively scheduled for 15 years from now. Ms. Damron expressed hope that the preservation of the neighborhood character of the River Road area could be included in the project. She noted that this was the second big improvement project to the neighborhood, with the improvements to Maxwell Road being the first. She shared that many residents had concerns as to how the Maxwell Road project had turned out. She wanted to consider how to preserve the church, for one example, and whether a natural swale drainage system could be used for another. She thought the River Avenue project, if executed well, could be used as a template for future projects. Continuing, Ms. Damron conveyed her concern regarding the process of how things were put on or taken off the table. She wondered ifthe group needed to go back to the council for further direction to determine whether an overlay was a possibility. She did not want to waste stakeholder group time MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24, 2005 Page 9 discussing something that was not possible. Mr. G. Austin asked if funding for the project would be lost if it was not executed soon. Mr. Schoening replied that it would not necessarily be lost, because the council had budgeted for this project. He said if the council decided that no action was the choice to take it would reprogram the funding to another project. Mr. G. Austin concurred with the idea of waiting to engage in River A venue improvements until there was a better idea of how 0 DOT would proceed with its larger project. Mr. Hill related that at the last public meeting he attended there was majority agreement that improve- ments to River Avenue were needed. He noted that the road flooded in front of his property every winter. He asked if the City Council had the authority to instruct staff to work with property owners on a scaled dow'll version of the road project. He thought the appropriate place to end the full road upgrade would be at the west side of the Wastewater Facility and then conduct a scaled down version of the road improve- ment to the east of that point to the Beltline Road. He recommended proposing a compromise. He noted that he frequently dealt with land use codes in his work and they did not always make sense. He averred that River Avenue was an instance in which the applicable codes did not make sense in relation to the use of the area. Mr. Hoobyar asked where the agreement among the group lay. Mr. Hyman supported returning to the council and asking just what the group was able to do with the project. Mr. Schoening reiterated that the direction from the council was that city standards could be flexed to a certain extent, but it would not be possible to override State law regarding pedestrians and bicyclists. He stressed that it was not possible to take maintenance funds and spend it on streets that did not have a road structure sufficient to support that level of repair. Ms. Damron remained unclear as to whether the City Council would absolutely not consider a main1e- nance overlay. Mr. Hill disagreed, stating that a maintenance overlay was not appropriate for the road and the storm drainage facilities were needed. Ms. Vaughn observed that an improvement to the road was needed. She did not feel confused about where the flexibility in the project lay because staff had clearly delineated those areas with room for movement. She felt those areas allowed for creativity and unless the group was in disagreement regarding whether the improvement was needed at all, it could conduct the necessary problem-solving and proceed. She thought the real issue was economic and an underlying concern for property owners was tbe amount the project would cost them. She said it could be a hardship. She did not think it was necessary to return to the City Council. Mr. Samer remarked that his sense from the City Council was that the stakeholder group should be creative in bringing the road up to urban and safety standards. He averred that not seizing the opportunity now could be cause for future regret. He was ready to move forward. MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 24,2005 Page 10 Mr. G. Austin asked how much the project could be scaled back. Mr. Hoobyar suggested this discussion be deferred to the next meeting, should this be the tack the group wished to take. Mr. Howard reiterated his desire to ask the council for clarification on its direction. Mr. Spain pointed to information on the existing road that indicated the roadbed was only three to five inches deep. He did not believe this to be adequate to hold an overlay. Mr. Howard offered this proposal to bring before the City Council: "Was it the City Council's intent that River Avenue be redesigned specifically to urban design standards or is some lower level of improvement that is supported by the stakeholders acceptable?" Mr. Hoobyar noted that the group had not determined a decision.making process. Ms. Damron observed that many people wished to talk about design options that would come close to or meet the definition but some people still held the idea of an overlay. She did not want to argue this without getting council direction. She said if the group was going to take a maintenance overlay off the table, she wanted it off the table. Mr. Hill said the maintenance overlay was already off the table because it was impractical. He com- mented that an understanding of road engineering would lend one to believe that an overlay could not be considered. Mr. Hoobyar asked for a show of hands to indicate support for Mr. Howard's proposal. The proposal was voted down, 8:3. Mr. Hill averred that what was needed from staff was affirmation that what the group was setting forth was what was being asked for. He said though it seemed there was no way to get around the State's rules regarding the road project, he thought it possible to contest a portion of those rules through an action before the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) if the group so chose. He wanted to move ahead with the design process. 6. Scheduling the Next Meeting Mr. Hoobyar determined from the group that the second meeting would be held on August 30 and the third meeting was scheduled for October 5. Both meetings would begin at 7 p.m., end at 9 p.m., and would be convened at the Wastewater Facility. The meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m. (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) M'\2005\Public Worh Department\River Avenue Stakeholder Groupirasg050824.doc MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 24,2005 Page 11 Memo FR: Paul Hoobyar, Watershed Initiatives, LLC TO: River Avenue Stakeholder Group RE: Preliminary Agenda,. Meeting #2 DA: August 26, 2005 Below is a proposed agenda for your review for the second meeting of the River Avenue Stakeholder Group. Please review the proposed agenda and respond to me with comments/suggestions by COB Monday, August 29th. I will then revise the agenda based on comments received. River Avenue Stakeholder Group Proposed Agenda Second Meeting--August 30th, 7-9:00 pm Introductions/Welcome . Agenda review/approval . Meeting agreements review . Questions & Answers Decision-Making Process . Establish a decision-making process for the Group · Consensus? · Super majority? · Combination or other? Clarifying the Stakeholder Group's Opportunity to Influence Decisions . Perspective from City Councilor Gary Pape. Ward 5 . Crest Drive Neighborhood Assoc. stakeholder process update Problem Identification . Continued discussion on the current condition of, and problem with, River Avenue Creating Design Options for River Avenue Next Steps . TBD based on extent of discussions and options identified by group . Adjourn MINUTES River Avenue Stakeholder Group Wastewater Facility Meeting Room - 410 River Avenue August 30, 2005 7p.m. PRESENT: Paul Hoobyar, Facilitator; Ann Vaughn, Mort Hyman, Santa Clara CommunityOrganiza- tion; Krista Rojas, Teresa Damron, River Road Community Organization; Chuck Meeker, Gordon Howard, Daniel Hill, Paul Spain, Clayton Austin, property owners; Yuri Samer, Eugene Bicycle Coalition; Peter Ruffier, Director Wastewater Division; Michelle Cahill, Mark Schoening, Chris Henry, Eric Jones, Lee Shoemaker, Eugene Public Works De- partment staff and 10 interested parties. ABSENT: Greg Austin, property owner. 1. Agenda Review/Approval Mr. Hoobyar determined the agenda to be approved and reviewed the meeting agreements. He reminded the group of their decision that public participation would be fulfilled by staff taking the report and decisions made by this group out to community organizations for input. Mr. Hoobyar pointed out that draft minutes from the meeting held on August 24 had been distributed to group members and asked members to review the draft for approval at the meeting scheduled for October 5. He noted that the minutes from the present meeting would also be completed and made available for review prior to the October meeting. Mr. Hoobyar noted that October 24 was the correct date of the City Council work session at which the results of the stakeholders' group process would be presented contingent on being able to wrap up the process on October 5. Mr. Hoobyar stated that two copies of the stakeholders' notebooks were available, one each at the Public Works offices on Pearl Street and Broadway Street. He added that it was also posted on the City's Web site. In response to requests, copies were also being provided to the Santa Clara Community Organization (SCCO) and to the River Road Community Organization (RRCO). Mr. Howard wondered if the council work session could be rescheduled for after October 31. Ms. Cahill agreed to look into this. Ms. Rojas recalled that crash statistics were largely from the intersection of River Avenue with River Road. She wondered if it would be possible to bring the intersection into the project. She thought the answer to this was likely negative and asked why this was so. Ms. Cahill replied that the intersection had already been modernized. She related that public comments regarding the intersection had been forwarded to the Traffic Division of the Public Works Department (PWD). She averred that some of the planned improvements to River Avenue would have a positive impact on the intersection. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 1 Ms. Rojas remarked that if one primary issue in the River Avenue project was safety, then the intersection should be of a higher importance given the level of public concern about it. She suggested that if work was to be done on the intersection it would be prudent to conduct the work simultaneously with the River A venue project. Ms. Rojas asked if there would be an opportunity to provide a minority report to the City Council, pending the decision-making process. Mr. Hoobyar replied that there would be such an opportunity. He clarified that the decision-making process had yet to be determined and could be anything from pure consenms to a majority/minority voting process. Ms. Damron commented that Councilor Andrea Ortiz had indicated she had concerns regarding the intersection. She thought the situation could be mitigated by providing two turn lanes from the high school side of the road (the west side). She averred the safety issue was supported by the crash data from the intersection. She was encouraged to hear Ms. Cahill state that some operational improvements were possible. She said just because the "very dangerous intersection" was a few feet outside of the boundaries of the proposed project, if safety was a driving issue the intersection should be included in the project even if it was on an operational level and not a roadbed constnlction level. Mr. Schoening responded that it was possible to do that operationally, but the concern lay in that should a capital improvement be desired for that intersection it would have to be brought before the City Council for approval. However, an operational change could be undertaken by statT. Ms. Cahill cited the blue bicycle lanes as an example of a significant change made since the crash data had been reviewed. Ms. Vaughn observed that a redesign of River Avenue could encourage people to come down that street rather than turning left to enter the Beltline Highway from River Road. Ms. Damron thought improved signage could alleviate some of the pressure on the intersection. Mr. Hoobyar asked Mr. Schoening to speak to the difference between the maintenance budget and the capital improvement budget, given that it was a somewhat confusing delineation. Mr. Schoening explained that the City had 500 miles of streets, of which 50 miles were still unimproved roadways. He stated that there was a backlog of $93 million in street preservation and maintenance projects on the 450 miles of improved roadways. He underscored that placing asphalt on an unimproved base such as the River Avenue roadway would not be money well-spent. He further clarified that it was not possible to unilaterally decide to change the funding source from capital improvement funding to maintenance funding as the capital improvement program was a process that began with prioritization and staff and council consideration and culminated in council approval. Ms. Damron was concerned about making improvements when the future of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) roadway, the Beltline Highway, was yet unknown. She felt the River Avenue project could be under-built, should the roadway become the primary onramp to Bcltline Highway. She did not think a lot of money should be spent on improvements beyond the edge of the Post Office property without foreknowledge of the intentions ofODOT. She added that city councilors sometimes made exceptions in city policies as an investment in goodwill. Mr. Meeker agreed that improvements were needed on the west end of the roadway. He would support further improvements if ODOT would provide information on its future intentions. MINUTES--River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 2 Mr. SameI' was concerned that the group was jumping ahead into the agenda. He recommended the group take care of the housekeeping elements of the agenda prior to getting at the meat of the conversation. 2. Decision Making Process Mr. Hoobyar explained that consensus was a more difficult process and took more time but resulted in a better buy-in of the members. He said the group could try for consensus and fall back on a majority vote or a super.majority vote oftwo.thirds or three~quarters should consensus not work. In response to a question from Mr. Howard, Mr. Hoobyar assured him that staff members did not have a vote. Mr. Howard suggested the group keep it simple and use a majority vote. He asked thatthe record include how individuals voted. He thought the council would find this information useful in interpreting the recommendation. Ms. Damron suggested there be a distinction between motions that move the group forward in the process and votes on the final recommendation. She advocated for consensus approval of the final recommenda. tion accompanied by a majority and minority report. Ms. Vaughn did not believe there should be a great deal offocus on how individuals voted. She wished to avoid a political process as she preferred a more holistic and free process in the formulation and approval of a recommendation. Mr. Hoobyar wanted to have the capacity to take a straw vote at different points in the process. Ms. Rojas said the group needed to consider that smaller decisions might be needed to move the process forward. Mr. Hoobyar responded that this was what he intended to determine with a straw poll. Mr. Hyman did not understand why the group would want their votes listed by name. Mr. Hoobyar noted that this was only one suggestion. Mr. Samer underscored that the reason the group was convened was to come up with a recommendation for an alternate design. He averred that a super majority was needed in order to "put the issue to bed." He supported a consensus process with a super majority as a fall back for the final recommendation. Mr. Hoobyar noted that he had heard both at this meeting and the previous meeting that the focus should be on rebuilding the road until the Post Office or the Wastewater Treatment Facility. He asked how the group wanted to make a decision on what option it wished to "run with." Ms. Vaughn said her concern would be satisfactorily addressed by Mr. Hoobyar's suggestion of frequent check-ins with the group. Mr. Hoobyar asked how the group would know when it had resolved an element of the plan. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 3 Mr. Hill did not think it necessary to vote on every little issue. He supported seeking consensus but felt a two.thirds vote would work. Mr. Hoobyar asked for a vote on consensus with a fall back to a two.thirds majority. The group voted in favor of a consensus model with a fall back to a two-thirds majority, 7:3. In response to a question from Mr. Howard, Mr. Hoobyar explained that consensus did not necessarily mean unanimity. He said consensus meant that everyone in the group could live with the result. Mr. Spain suggested that it might be good to list the final vote by stakeholder category given that the property owners were being assessed for the improvements. Ms. Damron had no objections to having her vote listed by her name and stakeholder group. She felt it was possible that it could make a difference with the City Council. Mr. Hill sugg~sted it be left up to the individual. Mr. Hyman pointed out that the group already agreed on its decision.making process. Ms. Rojas noted that the property owners were not the only ones who were paying for the improvements as the community paid for half of the cost. 3. Clarifying the Stakeholder Group's Opportunity to Influence Decisions Mr. Hoobyar reported that City Councilor Gary Pape had positively asserted that the group's process had a great deal of potential for influencing the City Council's final decision as this was why the council had formed the group in the first place. Mr. Hoohyar recalled that some people had concern that the similar process that the Crest Drive area residents had undergone had been disregarded. He related that he had communicated with Kathy Samnpa, chair of the Crest Drive Community Organization. She had indicated that she believed the stakeholder process had moved forward, that staff had affirmed that the exception rule could be applied to the Crest Drive area, and the community organization was generally satisfied with the process at this point 4. Problem Identification Mr. Hoobyar summarized the conversation thus far. He averred that concerns with how ODOT would proceed with Beltline Highway were real. He noted a great deal of discussion on ending the major improvements at the eastern boundary of the Post Office or at the treatment plant. Ms. Vaughn responded that his perception of the discussion had been accurate. She questioned whether property owners concerns were solely based on the design of the project or whether part of the concern they had was due to the expense. She asked them to consider what objections they would have if they MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 4 were not assessed and whether there were portions of the project that could be altered to reduce the financial impact. Mr. Samer also heard concern regarding the cost. He noted that the bicycle paths were not impacting the assessments to property owners as they were funded by Systems Development Charges (SDCs). Continuing, Mr. Samer noted that some comments heard at the previous meeting had been on whether River A venue was a collector or not. He averred that it was a technical definition with traffic counts to back it up. Nonetheless, he maintained that there was a lot of room to bring the road to current standards in a creative manner. He added that bicyclists were used to coping with the vagaries in road development that sometimes resulted from this flexibility. Mr. Spain recalled that the preliminary costs document indicated that the anticipated cost per lineal foot of sidewalk was $5.30. He said one question property owners posed to the City Council was what the soft costs of the project were. He noted that of the total cost of $2.269 million, 23 percent was allocated to engineering costs. He asked why this percentage was so high. Mr. Spain remarked that planting numerous trees to make it "look like Alton Baker Park" was not the highest and best use of the area, nor was building a lot of sidewalks for pedestrian traffic that did not exist. In response to a question from Ms. Vaughn, Mr. Schoening explained that the Post Office frontage would be paid by the City. Ms. Cahill underscored that property owners were only assessed for improvements in front of their properties. Mr. Spain expressed concern that when ODOT undertook its improvements he could be assessed a second time for improvements. Ms. Cahill assured him that he would not have to pay twice. Mr. Spain surmised that the property owners would not attain much in savings by a reduction in trees and this sort of improvement. Ms. Cahill responded that lighting and street landscaping were not part of what was proposed to be assessed to property owners. Ms. Cahill elaborated, explaining that the component of the $99 per foot assessment for 10' of paving, curb and gutter would pay for the previous low bidder on the project and this would have included paying for their contract expenses and associated costs. She listed the other costs of the project, such as the purchase of right-of-way, paying utilities to relocate, the cost of forming a Local Improvement District (LID), the cost of inspections, surveying and design. She said those costs not specific to pavement were prorated across many categories of improvements along the bottom ofthe cost distribution spreadsheet. Mr. Henry stated that portions of the project that were not assessable included the median and bicycle lanes and were paid for with SDCs. He said the assessments paid for curbs, gutters, sidewalks, driveway improvements, and the portion of the street in front of the property to the center line. Mr. Hill observed that SDCs were an assessment. He said the group was paying for bicycle lanes, though not directly. He likened SDCs to a tax, noting that he had worked on 30 sub-divisions and had paid quite a lot into the SDC fund. Mr. Meeker noted that the SDC on his building had cost $30,629. He was dissatisfied that he would have MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 5 to pay more in assessments. He felt he should receive full credit for the SDC, but was only receiving partial credit. Mr. SameI' said he also had developed property. He stated that the SDC funds come from a larger pool and not a direct assessment. Mr. Hill clarified that SDCs were charged to builders and were project specific. Ms. Damron pointed out that property values would likely increase with improvements. She reiterated her question of whether the River Avenue issue was an assessment issue that should motivate the group to look for ways to reduce costs or whether it was an issue for what was the best action to take for the greater good of the community. Mr. Meeker said given that the group did not know if the road was going to be continued east into Beltline Highway over the long term, he would support building a three-lane road that stopped at the eastern boundary of the Post Office property. He underscored that the issue for him was how much the City should spend given that ODOr plans were as yet unknown. Mr. Hill agreed that property owners \-vould realize an increase in property values with road improve~ ments. He called the first proposal for rebuilding the road "overkill." He said, given that it was largely an industrial area, he did not see the point in building a bicycle path to the Beltline Highway. He believed that River Avenue could some day be a major thoroughfare, but would not become a major focus for bicyclists and pedestrians. Mr. Howard wanted to see fiscal responsibility in government projects. He opined that too many government projects were generated at a staff level without common sense. He repeated concerns about the future actions of ODOr as this could dramatically increase or decrease traffic on River A venue. He thought the City could create a bottleneck if it did not work with ODOr. Mr. Hoobyar observed that the group had a certain level of unanimity regarding a design option in which the road would be built out to the Post Office boundary or a little farther. He asked the group what idea made best sense to them. Ms. Damron asked that the property owners comment on the assessments. She suggested that the group go around the table and give comments. Ms. Rojas surmised that the group was not just concerned about assessments. She felt the larger concern revolved around the large cost of the project as currently proposed and whether the community was truly served by this. She noted that Mr. Meeker had indicated his willingness to pay the assessment if he was able to see the reason behind it. She supported designing a scaled back project on the portion of the road between the area that saw the greatest amount of activity and Beltline Highway. Mr. Howard supported creating a "reasonable" road design and opposed building something that could wind up being tom up in five years. Mr. Austin said it was both about assessment and design. He thought should ODOr close the onramp to Beltline Highway from River Avenue, there would be no need for three lanes on that end of the road. He MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 6 was concerned that property owners would be assessed again for a future upgrade caused by changes made to the access by ODOT, despite assurance from staff. Mr. Spain felt the issue was not about assessments. Rather, he averred, it was about the scope and context of the project. He observed that the original project as proposed had resembled a nice parkway. He did not think this would be appropriate for the area. He wanted the road to be improved, adding that the question lay in how much improvement there should be. Mr. Samer asked that the original proposal be included in stakeholder notebooks. He conveyed the Bicycle Coalition's perspective which was that the entire River Avenue was a collector. He said the group would like to deal with the road creatively so that it would meet the standards as a collector and as a bicycle arterial. Mr. Meeker commented that his concerns lay both in the assessments and in the design. He averred that the City needed to spend the money realistically for the needs of the area. Ms. Vaughn relayed the SCCO point of view. She said they were sensitive to assessments and costs and supported a fiscally responsible redesign of the road. She stated that there \-vas a lot of concern about the congestion in the area and were trying to look for other roads to utilize aside from River Road. She shared that the SCCO wished to preserve the ambience of the neighborhood. Mr. Hyman agreed with Mr. Meeker. He could not see how important it was whether it was an assessment problem or a design problem. He said the real issue was one of undertaking a project that "made sense." He noted that he lived near Irvington Road, which he felt to be an example of a bad transportation construction project experience. He opined that the construction of the project had been conducted in a disorganized fashion. Ms. Damron shared the RRCO's concerns with the group. She said the organization was concerned for the long~range impact on the greater community and because of this they valued bicycle access. She related the organization's support for natural swale drainage systems. She expressed a preference for making the more heavily trafficked west end of the road "beautiful" and representative of the community in ways such as planting native trees She believed this project could become a template for future road projects. She suggested inclusion of a pedestrian crossing at the post office. She also observed that there were mixed use design elements at the west end of River Avenue and felt it warranted a formalized pedestrian transportation facility. She noted the organization was sensitive to assessment costs. Mr. Hoobyar surmised that while assessments and costs were important to the property owners, the design of the road was also very important He commented that the "devil" was in the design details. Mr. Hill proposed that the group consider splitting River Avenue into two segments, the first segment comprised of the area traversing River Avenue from River Road to Ross Lane and the second segment comprised of the remainder of River Avenue to its connection with Beltline Highway. He recommended that the first segment be built to a three. lane road standard including a bicycle path. He averred that it made sense to provide better connectivity to the mixed use area at the west end. He said there was a lot of traffic to the Ross Lane point of River Avenue because of the business on one side and the wastewater dump site on the other and suggested a "slow-clown point" be planned at that point. For the second segment of the road, he recommended a scaled-down version of the proposed road with one sidewalk and two lanes. He noted he rarely saw pedestrians or bicyclists beyond Ross Lane. MINUTES---River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 7 Continuing, Mr. Hill observed that in the private sector one rarely paid as much as 12 percent of a project's total cost in engineering and design fees. He noted that 25 percent of the city project's cost was attributed to engineering fees and opined that the group needed to hold the City Council and City staff accountable for this seeming discrepancy. Mr. Meeker agreed with the idea of building out the road to Ross Lane but wished to hold the beautifica~ tion to a minimum. He commented that raised pedestrian facilities could cause damage to boats being brought in and out of his business, Clemens Marina. Mr. Samer said it would be possible to design a pedestrian island in the middle of the road that was not raised and would not damage Mr. Meeker's customers' boats. Regarding build-out of the bicycle path, he pointed out that bicyclists wished for connectivity at the east end of River Avenue. He suggested that the bicycle lane be improved over the full length of the road, with a full improved bicycle lane to Ross Lane and a sidewalk built to the wider mixed use standard from that point eastward. He noted that a regular sidewalk was not wide enough for safe passage of both pedestrians and bicyclists. He added that he had measured the road and determined it to be wide enough to accommodate the wider sidewalk standard used in mixed use development. Mr. Hoobyar observed that bicycle traffic could increase with improvements. Mr. Sanler concurred. He predicted rising gasoline prices would also increase bicycle usage. Ms. Damron concurred with Mr. Samer. She said bicycle/pedestrian issues were very important to the RRCO. She also agreed that median pedestrian refuges did not need to be raised. She believed that foot and bicycle traffic would increase on River Avenue once the improvements had been completed. Mr. Meeker did not want the turn lane to be blocked with such refuges. Mr. Hill thought Mr. Samer's suggestion to build a sidewalk to mixed use standards east of Ross Lane made sense. He did not think bicyclists would want to share a lane with cars after that point anyway, given the dramatic increase in speed that occurred as vehicles approached Beltline Highway. While he favored the inclusion of landscaping, Mr. Hill observed that the City sometimes struggled to maintain landscaping it had already installed. He suggested that lower maintenance landscaping be utilized. Mr. Hoobyar commented that landscaping meant different things to different people. Mr. Austin said it seemed the group had agreed on a three-lane road to Ross Lane and asked if the group should take a vote prior to discussing pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Mr. Howard asked why Ross Lane should be the point at which the three lane road should be built to. He felt building it out to post office was far enough. Mr. Hill responded that Ross Lane was where the industrial traffic stopped. Mr. Hoobyar asked the group to indicate with a show of hands whether they supported splitting the road into two segments. The River Avenue Stakeholders Group indicated with a unanimous show of hands its support for splitting River Avenue into two sections with different development standards to suit the difference in uses for those two parts of the road. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 8 Mr. Meeker stated that 80 percent of the traffic traversed the western end of River A venue. He averred the west end needed attention first. Mr. Spain agreed with Mr. Hill's proposal to have the demarcation for the two segments at Ross Lane given the large number of industrial vehicles making ingress and egress to River Avenue at that point. Mr. Samer pointed out that the group needed to consider how stormwater would be handled at the point at which the road standard changed. Mr. Hoobyar asked the group to consider whether it was significant at this point to decide the demarcation between the two segments. Mr. Hill reiterated that the number of industrial vehicles turning at Ross Lane warranted demarking the two segments there. He also felt it would be prudent to include a pedestrian crossing at that point. Mr. Hoobyar asked for a vote v,,'hat point the demarcation between the two segments of the road should fall. The group indicated a preference for demarcation of the two segments of River Avenue, to be developed to different and more specific standards based on road usage, to occur at Ross Lane by a vote 01'7:3. Mr. Howard requested further information and possibly a legal opinion on whether the portion of River A venue between Ross Lane and BeltJine Highway could be built to a lower standard. Mr. Schoening stated that staff had met with legal counsel. He was not sure, at this point, what staff would be inquiring about given that the "lesser standard" had yet to be defined. He added that his sense was that the City was willing to designa road that ran counter to City standards. Mr. Hoobyar suggested that staff get a sense of what the legal opinion would be on this. Mr. Samer felt the group could design a simpler road that met City standards. He averred this was different from recommending a design that was belov,; standards. 6. Next Steps Mr. Hoobyar stated that minutes from the present meeting would be distributed by email and reiterated his request that members review minutes from both of the first two meetings of the group for approval at the next meeting. The next meeting of the River Avenue Stakeholders Group will be convened at 7 p.m. on October 5, 2005, at the Wastewater Facility Meeting Room The meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m. (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) M:12005\Public Works DepartmentlRiver Avenue Stakeholder Grouplrasg050830.doc MiNUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department August 30, 2005 Page 9 Memo FR: Paul Hoobyar, Watershed Initiatives, LLC TO: River Avenue Stakeholder Group RE: Preliminary Agenda, Meeting #3 DA: September 29, 2005 Below is a proposed agenda for your review for the third meeting of the River Avenue Stakeholder Group. Please review the proposed agenda and respond to me with comments/suggestions by COB Monday, October 3rd. River Avenue Stakeholder Group Proposed Agenda Third Meeting--October 5th, 7-9:00 pm Introductions/Welcome . Agenda review/approval . Meeting agreements review . Previous meeting minutes approval . Informational packet comments/questions . Update from stakeholder representatives What Improvements are needed for the West End of River Avenue? . Stormwater drainage/curbs & gutters? . Center turn lanes? . Pedestrian/bicycle facilities? . Pedestrian refuges ? . Landscaping? What Improvements are needed for the East End River A venue? . Stormwater drainage/curbs & gutters? . Center turn lanes ? . Pedestrianlbicycle facilities? . Pedestrian refuges ? . Landscaping? Next Steps . TBD based on extent of discussions and options identified by group Adjourn MINUTES River Avenue Stakeholder Group Wastewater Facility Meeting Room - 410 River Avenue October 5, 2005 7p.m. PRESENT: Paul Hoobyar, Facilitator; Ann Vaughn, Mort Hyman, Santa Clara Community Organization; Krista Rojas, Teresa Damron, River Road Community Organization; Chuck Meeker, Gordon Howard, Daniel Hill, Paul Spain, Clayton Austin, property owners; Yuri Samer, Eugene Bicycle Coalition; Peter Ruffier, Director Wastewater Division; Michelle Cahill, Mark Schoening, Chris Henry, Joe Ramirez, Lee Shoemaker, Eugene Public Works Department staff, four interested parties. ABSENT: Greg Austin, property owner. 1. IntroductionsIWelcome . Agenda Review/Approval . Meeting Agreements Review Mr. Hoobyar detemlined the agenda to be approved and reviewed the meeting agreements. . Previous Meeting Minutes Approval Mr. Hoobyar suggested that minor minutes corrections be submitted directly to Ms. Cahill. Mr. Howard indicated he was disinclined to approve minutes that needed correction. He said he did not believe that Oregon Department of Transp0l1ation (ODOT) Regional Planner was quoted correctly in the fourth paragraph on page 6. He requested a verbatim transcript of this portion of the meeting held on August 24, 2005. Mr. Howard offered the following correction to the minutes of August 24: Page 8, paragraph 8: "Mr. Howard opined that the road the City designed would not support the sand and gravel truck traffic that traversed River A venue if the intersection tit tlte east end of River Avenue was closed by ODOr." Mr. Howard, seconded by Mr. Spain, moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of the River Avenue Stakeholders Group held on August 24,2005, as amended. The motion passed unanimously. MINUTES-River Avenuc Stakeholdcr Group-- Public Works Department October 5, 2005 Page I Ms. Vaughn offered the following correction to the minutes of August 30: Page 8, delete paragraphs 12 and 13. Mr. Howard, seconded by Mr. Spain, moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of the River Avenue Stakeholders Group held on August 30, 2005, as amended. The motion passed unanimously. · Informational Packet Comments/Questions . Update from Stakeholder Representatives Mr. Hoobyar offered two agendas. He related that he had conversed with some people and there were at least two proposals on how to move forward with road improvement designs. He offered an alternative agenda with the second item comprised of presentations, discussion, and decisions on the proposals from the stakeholder representatives. Ms. Damron noted that the August 24 minutes referred to a chairperson of the group. She wondered who that would be and how the material would be presented to the City Council at its work session. Mr. Hoobyar had hoped to do that as part of the next step after making design decisions. He asked if others were interested in having this discussion. Mr. Schoening reported that he had discussed this at the staff level. He said generally staff presented a report and then the City Council gave comments and asked questions in a first round, a second round, and so on. He underscored that time constraints prevented multiple presentations on a topic and work sessions were primarily to provide the council the opportunity to utilize staff as a resource. He stated that the regular session was subsequent to the work session and began with the Public Forum in which any citizen could speak on any topic not subject to a public hearing or a ruling by the Hearings OfficiaL Ms. Rojas asked for Mr. Schoening to claritY whether the suggestion that a chairperson of the group could help represent the group's work. Ms. Damron added that it had been the understanding that a representative of the group would have an opportunity to be present as a resource to the council. Mr. HiH indicated he was amenable to having a group representative at the work session if there was group consensus behind it. Mr. Hyman opined that there was little "potency" in public testimony at man)' City Council meetings. Mr. Hill suggested that some testimony could be in letter form to go along with the proposal. He did not see a problem with people attending the work session to sit and listen. Ms. Damron moved to elect a minimum of one and a maximum of four representatives to go to the City Council Work Session; and to be allowed equal time in the presentation as was granted to staff to present the work; and that the stakeholders would submit a written version. Mr. Howard provided the second. The motion passed unanimously. MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department October 5, 2005 Page 2 Mr. Hoobyar asked how the group wished to decide who would represent the group. Mr. Howard suggested that this be decided at the end of the process. Mr. Hoobyar asked the group for a vote on the alternative option for the agenda, as delineated earlier. The second option for the agenda was approved of by a vote of 6:0:4; four people abstaining. Mr. Hill asked for clarification on the aerial map of the area. Ms. Cahill explained that the boxes on the map represented setbacks where street trees could go and the one that resembled a bus pull out in front of the Four Square Church was actually an allowance for a large existing tree. 2. Present, Discuss, Decide on Proposals from Stakeholder Representatives Mr. Hoobyar stated that the property owners had provided a proposal and Teresa Damron, co-chair of the River Road Community Organization (RRCO), had submitted a proposaL Mr. Samer interjected that he had hoped that the group could just go through the list of possibilities for the west and east ends of the road and see what could be taken offthe table. Mr. Hoobyar asked staff to make copies of the two proposals for everyone. He noted that Greg Austin was not present because he and his wife had a baby. In response to a question from Mr. Spain, Mr. Henry said the City Attorney's comments were in reference to the Arterial Collector Street Plan. He stated that the City Council could adopt a new exception category based on a set of criteria that would be an exception process. He reiterated that the City Council had no influence on the Transportation Planning Rule (TPR). He underscored that the conflict in what was proposed for River Avenue and the stakeholders' desires lay in the Arterial Collector Street Plan. Mr. Schoening provided copies of the two proposals to the stakeholders' group and staff. Mr. Hill reviewed the River Avenue Properly Owners Proposed Improvement List. The improvements included: I. That the road would be three lane for the continuous length of the travel~way, the center lane for turning only and that it be fully improved with curbs, gutters, and storm drainage; 2. Setback five-foot wide sidewalks from the west end to the east side of the Post Office and a curbside five~foot wide sidewalk on the north side from that point to the east end of river A venue. 3. Bicycle paths to be on both sides of the road to the east side of the Post Office and then on the south side only from that point on. MINUTES--River A venue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department October 5, 2005 Page 3 Ms. Cahill asked if the proposal intended the bicycle lanes to be painted lanes on the street. Mr. Hill affirmed that it would be that until the east side of the Post Office and then at that point, a bicycle path would be placed on the south side of the road. Mr. SameI' pointed out that the standard for a Mixed Use sidewalk was a 12-foot width. He reiterated that he had measured the road and determined there was room for the bicycle facility. 4. Crosswalks at the east end of the Post office, Ross Lane and at the east end Bicycle path across from the Orowheat Store and possibly at the Veteran's Administration building. Mr. Hill noted that the crosswalks were listed in the proposal as being raised and the property owners had decided to strike this point. 5. No landscaped islands or planters on any portion of the three lane road; street trees to be planted at the west end only in the setback sidewalk area to the east end of the Post Office. Mr. Meeker observed that a 12-foot bicycle path on the south side of the road after the Post Office would likely have to be maintained by the Wastewater Division Facility. Mr. Hill concurred. Mr. Samet pointed out that the group had voted to propose a full build-out of the road to Ross Lane at the last meeting. Mr. Howard responded that the proposal was a concept and could be changed. Mr. Spain thought the City Attorney had clearly said that whatever proposal the group arrived at had to meet certain standards and this was new information. He underscored that everyone wanted some kind of connectivity and the property owners had attempted to forge a compromise. Mr. Hill commented that the reason the property owners had proposed to stop the full sidewalk development at the Post Office was that most pedestrian and bicycle traffic went no further than that because traversing the area in front of the Wastewater Facility was unpleasant. Ms. Rojas thought it would be good to review the RRCO proposal. Ms. Vaughn conveyed her appreciation for the work that the property owners had done. She felt the previous vote to build to Ross Lane had been made before all of the information from the City Attorney was in. She indicated that she was comfortable with the proposal. Ms. Damron provided an overview of the RRCO proposal, which consisted of four options: 1. Have no road project; wait for OOOT decision; 2. Maintain the current road temporarily with a pavement overlay until OooT decision determined long-ternl need; 3. Redefine construction project boundaries; 4. Go forward with the project as planned by City of Eugene engineering staff. MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department October S, 2005 Page 4 Ms. Damron observed that the River Avenue improvements had been in the planning phase for 20 years. She opined that ODOT plans would be better known in a year and the project could wait one more year. She also pointed out that the River Road and Santa Clara communities were in the process of a transition group, the outcome of which was not yet known. She preferred to stop micro-managing the engineering department and suggested the group discuss the four options and see if it had a general position to take. In all options, Ms. Damron wanted the trees that had been removed to be replaced with native trees. Ms. Damron elaborated on the third option, explaining that the RRCO felt natural swales were part of the character of the neighborhood. She averred that the water quality going into the river was of concern and that natural swales were the best filters for stormwater. Mr. Meeker asked if it was possible to collect drainage at the curbs and pipe it to swales. Ms. Cahill replied that it was possible. She noted that the water quality option in the original design was structural. Mr. Hill thought natural swales would ultimately be mandated by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) because it made sense to purify water before dumping it into the waterway. Mr. Hoobyar surn1ised that there seemed to be agreement on the stOrnlwater quality to the river. Ms. Rojas asked if the group could get a sense of whether people would choose to wait until more information on ODOT plans was available to make the road improvements. Mr. Samer suggested that another question would be how many people thought that option was available at all. Mr. Spain remarked that if the group waited for ODOT, it would have to have a cut-off date. He pointed out that whatever was decided on the road design would require lead time to put into motion. Ms. Cahill added that it would take at least six months lead time. Mr. Spain felt that choosing to do nothing while waiting for ODOT to provide more information regarding its plans for Beltline Highway might mean waiting forever. Ms. Damron said Mr. Boyatt had thought more would be known by December, 2006. She agreed that including a sunset date was important. She expressed concern about the expense of engineering work. She averred that having a more precise idea of what the needs ofthe road would be was prudent. Mr. Samer likened this to Waitingfor Godor by Samuel Beckett. He stressed that the group could not afford to maintain the present unsafe conditions. He supported the property owners' proposal and opposed \vaiting. Mr. Meeker asserted that that the property owners proposal covered every basic point and addressed the needs of all involved, He noted that there had been a three-car accident at the intersection of River Road and River Avenue on the previous day. He felt building the road at three lanes for the whole length of the road would help mitigate traffic hazards. MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public \Vorks Department October 5, ZOOS Page 5 Mr. Hill did not favor waiting for ODOT. He observed that the message was that ODOT might decide to do something, they did not know when it would be done, and they could change their minds. He stressed that a pavement overlay on River Avenue would be a "big mistake," and that it would not solve storm water issues. He questioned the wisdom of spending good money on something that would "go away" quickly. He also wished to point out that should the project be postponed, costs would continue to go up exponentially. He urged the group to get a plan together and "do it" and not to wait for ODOT. Ms. Damron agreed that the group should not wait indefinitely. She wished to take the ODOT word that more would be known within a year. She suggested that the group put a sunset date of 12 months on the waiting period and in that time it should lobby to get some kind of decision. Regarding the property owners' proposal, Ms. Damron opposed a reduction in landscaping. She wanted the landscaping to be beautiful. She also opined that if the road was only an on.ramp at the east end, it did not need to consist of three lanes. In response to concerns expressed about speed, she suggested that a two. lane road with potholes did much to reduce speed. She felt that cleaning up the road could potentially increase driving speeds to 50 miles per hour. Mr. Austin recalled that the City Council had directed the stakeholders group to make a proposal, not to present them with options. Mr. Schoening affirmed this. Mr. Howard underscored that a common theme of discussion was an unwillingness to take an expensive action before knowing ODOrs plans for Beltline Highway. He suggested forwarding Ms. Damron's second option, which mainly sought to repair River Avenue with a pavement overlay, as the group's preferred alternative and then submitting the propelty owners' proposal as a "fall.back." Ms. Vaughn wondered ifthe group could take a closer look at proposals and finesse them. She felt once the group had a better vision of what the project would look like, the group could strategize. She commented that she felt a little rushed. Mr. Hoobyar asked that a placeholder be put on Mr. Howard's suggestion. Mr. Samer thought the property owners' proposal could, with a little tweaking, be a good plan. He suggested that the group take a couple of "ancillary votes" on details such as landscaping and finish putting the proposal together. Continuing, Mr. Samer said he had made a point of coming to River Avenue on his bicycle more frequently and had observed pedestrians and bicyclists every time. He also had been talking with homeowners in his neighborhood, who had experienced a similar road improvement, and everyone he spoke to had opined that the River Avenue stakeholders just had to <<bite the bullet and do it." Mr. Hill reiterated his concerns regarding increased costs. He underscored that construction costs were increasing by 15 to 30 percent with every year. He opined that with the money the River Avenue road project would cost in five years a freeway could be built today. He did not favor relying on ODOT for MINUTE8--River A venue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department October 5,2005 Page 6 "one darned thing." From his past development experiences, he did not believe that ODOT plans would be known in a year, nor that they would not change once known. He averred that the group had consensus that the road needed improvement. He urged the group to do it right and do it at today's costs, Mr. Howard disagreed with Mr. Hill's cost assumptions. Mr. Meeker reiterated that the City Council had instructed staff to meet with the stakeholders and come up with an alternative plan for the River A venue road project. He stated that he had signatures from seven of the property owners in the Local Improvement District (LID) that would be assessed for a portion of the improvements in support ofthe proposal that had originated with Mr. Hill. He said the property owners had done what they were asked to do. He agreed with Mr. Samer that there were more pedestrians and bicyclists than before. He felt the crosswalks and bicycle lanes to the east edge of the Post Office property addressed bicycle and pedestrian needs. Mr. Samer asked the property owners if they would accept a revision to their proposal wherein the bikeway beyond the east edge of the Post Office was planned to be a 12-foot Mixed Use sidewalk. The property owners indicated agreement. Mr. Samer moved to vote on the Property Owners' Proposal as amended, with the 12- foot Mixed Use sidewalk on the south side of the road from the eastern boundary of the Post Office to the east end of River A venue, with votes to follow on amendments for whether or not to suggest to hold the project pending further information from ODOT and designation of a sunset date in that case, whether the City should adjust its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to move up the bicycle/pedestrian project to improve connectivity to Santa Clara through the Beltline Highway underpass at the east end of River Avenue, and whether or not street trees should be included along the road through the entire project. Mr. Hyman provided a second. In response to a question from Mr. Meeker, Mr. Sanler stated that the Santa Clara connectivity project was a separate project with a separate funding plan. Ms. Vaughn observed that the discussion had been good, but it was approaching time to adjourn and she did not want to be rushed into a vote. She asked if group members would be amenable to meeting again to complete the task before the group. Mr. Spain responded that he thought the group was close to its conclusion. He asked if SCCO representatives had any specific concerns. Ms. Vaughn related that the main concern had been the impact on property owners, but the SCCO was also supportive of trees and the use of natural swales for drainage. Mr. Spain pointed out that the property owners' proposal had left the drainage issue open for more specific fine-tuning. He felt the property owners were amenable to utilizing natural swales for drainage. MINUTES-----Ri ver A venue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department October 5,2005 Page 7 Mr. Henry observed that the proposal from the property owners shared many of the same elements that the original design contained. He thought it was a responsive design that met the needs of the community. He felt it was good that bicycles were being accommodated. He said the roadway width with center turn lane was identical to the original proposed roadway width with two bicycle lanes. He conveyed the engineering concerns regarding the width of the sidewalk. He stated that there was no standard for a curbside sidewalk, but the general rule was a ten foot width. He said he would have a great deal of concern about having a five~foot curbside sidewalk next to traffic. He pointed out that toward the east end of the project, setback sidewalks would require additional right of way. He suggested, for the group's consideration, the original staff proposal of approximately seven and a half feet of curbside sidewalk at that point. Ms. Damron liked Mr. Samer's proposal. She underscored that the things to include in the plan that were important to the RRCOincluded safety/operational changes to the River Road/River Avenue intersection, natural swales for storm water drainage, and that trees be included both on the north and south sides of the road. She repeated her concern that road improvements would increase travel speeds. Mr. Howard commented that everyone had a wish list. He pointed out that no one was getting everything they wanted in this plan. He said the property owners had tried to listen to everyone and incorporate their concerns into the proposal. He felt the proposal included trees where they made the greatest difference. He underscored that the property owners had heard people asking for sidewalks on the north side of the street and even though this would prove to be very costly to the property owners, they had included this in their proposal. He thought the project could become huge and this would run counter to the goals for the group set forth by the City Council. Mr. Meeker expressed concern about the potential that sidewalks would need additional right of way. Mr. Howard remarked that this was one place the plan needed to be trimmed back. Mr. Samerthought a 12~foot bikeway on the south side would meet the needs of bicycles and pedestrians. He was not as concerned about a five-foot curbside sidewalk on the north side of the road because there would be far less pedestrians on that side and because traffic was less likely to be speeding as it moved toward the intersection with River Road. He opined that the danger was more apparent than reaL Ms. Damron asserted that another meeting would be needed, given the time. Ms. Rojas asked whether the group could make further amendments after a vote on Mr. Samer's motion had been taken. Mr. Hoobyar called for a vote on Mr. Samer's motion. The motion passed, 6:2:2; Ms. Damron and Ms. Rojas voting in opposition; Mr. Hyman and Ms. Vaughn abstaining. MfNUTES--River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department October 5. 2005 Page & Ms. Rojas, seconded by Ms. Damron, moved to schedule a fourth meeting. The motion failed, 3:7; Ms. Damron, Ms. Rojas, and Ms. Vaughn voting in favor. Ms. Damron left the meeting at 9 p.m. Her alternate, Rob Handy, assumed her place at the table. Ms. Vaughn noted that she had abstained because the sidewalk issue was not resolved. Mr. Hill supported removing the sidewalk on the north side ofthe road from the eastern boundary of the Post Office. He thought building a 12-foot Mixed Use sidewalk from that point eastward would meet the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. In response to a question fTOm Ms. Vaughn, Mr. Hill said the proposal would include a striped crosswalk at the point where the road ceased to have two bicycle lanes and bicycles and pedestrians were funneled to the north side of the street. Mr. Hill did not wish to attempt to design the swale system, but he did not think that curbs and gutters should be eliminated altogether. He commented that planting street trees was a great idea. He averred that everyone supported planting trees on the south side of the road and asked that tree planting on the north side be left to the discretion of the property owners. Mr. Handy suggested that a tree canopy be planted in the center of the road at pedestrian crossings in order to mitigate traffic speed. Mr. Hill asked who would maintain the trees. Mr. Handy replied that neighborhoods often took on the care of the trees growing in them. Mr. Spain pointed out that the property owners were the neighborhood. Mr. Howard thought this should be voted on. Mr. Hoobyar recapped the property owners' proposal as anlended and approved. He asked the gl'OUp to give thumbs up or thumbs down on Mr. Handy's suggestion to put trees in the center lane at pedestrian crossings. The majority gave thumbs down. Ms. Rojas said she wanted to put in flat curbs and gutters in order to promote a more holistic stonnwater drainage system instead of directing storm water runoff into a system that drained to the river. She pointed out that community members paid for river cleanup. She felt a system that used swales would be cheaper and more effective. Mr. Hill stated that some kind of gutter system would still be needed to channel storm water to a swale. Mr. Hoobyar noted a Stormwater Management Plan was in the works for the River Road/Santa Clara area and suggested that one way to address concerns about what sort of system to use for drainage would be to include language flexible enough to allow curbs and gutters consistent with support of bios wales. MINUTES--River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Deparlment October 5, 2005 Page 9 Mr. Henry said there was value in having sidewalks and asked the group to consider having a five.foot curbside sidewalk on the north side of the road east of the Post Office. Ms. Vaughn asked what value such a sidewalk would add. Mr. Henry replied that without sidewalks there was no way to have wheelchair access to that side of the road and people would have to walk in mud. Mr. Hill allowed as how he would agree if the businesses that were there served anyone in wheelchairs. He reiterated the property owners' preference for no sidewalk. Mr. Howard suggested that painted pedestrian crossings could be added to the plan to calm traffic. Mr. Henry did not think the traffic engineer would approve of this. Ms. Vaughn asked if there was foot or bicycle traffic to the bakery. Mr. Hill responded that occasionally a bicycle visited the bakery. Mr. Samer pointed out that employees needed to be considered and that there were storage lockers there also. He also noted a sign he had recently seen advertising a teen dance at one of the locations. He asked if Ms. Vaughn wanted to revisit the vote on the sidewalk. Ms. Vaughn said her preference would be for a sidewalk with setbacks. Mr. Hill stated that his business was on the property line and there was no more available right of way. Mr. Hoobyar observed that sidewalks were being considered again. Mr. Howard felt that the property owners had reached agreement on the sidewalks and others had been amenable to it. He wanted the sidewalk issue to be left as it was with the first vote. Mr. Hill wanted the sidewalk issue out of the conversation. Mr. Meeker and Mr. Spain were undecided. Mr. Austin wanted more discussion on the sidewalk issue. Mr. Meeker decided that he also wanted more discussion. Mr. Handy said the RRCO had done its best to get its proposal to people ahead oftime, but the property owners' proposal had only been presented for review at this meeting. He asked if there was a way to go to email and reconstruct all of the concerns into a form that .'everyone could live with." He wished to add three amendments: MINUTES-River A venue Stakeholder Group - Public Works Department October 5, 2005 Page 10 1. That the proposal incorporate operational and safety improvements to the intersection of River Road and River A venue as suggested by city staff. 2. That the project to improve the Santa Clara bicycle connection at the east end of River A venue be coordinated with the River Avenue road improvement project. 3. That the sidewalks on the south side be flat in order to facilitate the usage of natural swales for stormwater drainage. Mr. Samer moved to include a recommendation for the operational improvements to the intersection of River Road and River Avenue be done as suggested by staff and we recommend as a separate issue that the connectivity of bike and pedestrians underneath Beltline from River Avenue to the north Santa Clara neighborhood be coordinated so that is happens at the date of the River Avenue projects. Ms. Rojas provided the second. Mr. Spain stressed that the task before the group was to look at the River A venue improvement pr~ject. He averred that the amendments were not in line with this charge. Mr. SameI' said that the motion added r~ommendations. Ms. Rojas did not see a point in making separate recommendations. Ms. Vaughn averred that the proposal was for the design for the project and the recommendations were a part of the report. Mr. Hoobyar recapped the motion: to accept the property owners' proposal amended to incorporate multi-use extension of the bicycle/pedestrian facility on the south side, including north side segue that was a five-foot sidewalk, use of curbs and gutters to support a bioswale system, trees on the north side at the discretion ofthe property owners, trees on the south side east of the post office, and the first two aforementioned recommendations made by the RRCO. The motion passed unanimously, 10:0. Mr. Handy said the RRCO still needed to see the wording. He also had heard concerns expressed about who would represent the group when the presentation was made to the City Council and whether there would be a minority report. Mr. Hoobyar said he would work with staff to get the proposal out to everyone. Mr. Schoening stated that there was only room for one person to sit at the table with the council. Mr. Hoobyar asked people who were interested in representing the group at the work session scheduled for November 28. He noted that the motion had called for one to four people to serve in this capacity. Mr. Howard suggested that people who were interested in serving in this capacity contact Mr. Hoobyar and staffby email. MINUTES-River Avenue Stakeholder Group- Public Work.s Department October 5. 2005 Page 11 Mr. Handy said Ms. Damron had strong feelings about representing the group at the table. Mr. Hilt asked if Ms. Damron would be representing the whole group and not just the RRCO. Mr. Hoobyar affirmed that she would. Mr. Hill opined that costs for re-engineering the project should come out of Risk Management. He asked for a response to this. Ms. Vaughn asked about the minority report. Mr. Hoobyar stated that he did not see a strong desire on the part of group members for a minority report. He indicated that he would try to provide the summary report in the nexi week or two. Ms. Cahill noted that staff had agreed to attend the community organization meetings to "close the loop. " Mr. Hoobyar asked if anyone aside from the community organization representative wished to attend the meetings. Mr. Hill said he did not want to attend but he wanted to receive any updates and graphics prior to the City Council work session. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) M:\2005\Public Works Department\Riwr Awnue Stakeholder Group\ MINUTES---River A venue Stakeholder Group- Public Works Department October 5, 2005 Page 12 RIVER A VENUE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS "CLOSE THE LOOP" RIVER ROAD COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION OCTOBER 17,2005 COMMENTS Q: Stripping of crosswalk gives pedestrians or vehicles right.....of-way? A: Pedestrians, but be aware of vehicles not obeying right-of-way laws. Trees planted at owner's discretion - Concern is ovvners do not live there. Pedestrian Islands Removed - Concern less safe with just striping. Concerned about elaborate sidewalks with low number of pedestrians. Q: Why is project ending short of Beltline? A: Uncertainty about Beldine work, difficulty with funding, environmental permits. Future Howard Ave. Improvements are a concern. Speed, Pedestrians, Traffic Safety. Q: Will this design be used for Horn Lane Improvements? A: Horn Lane is a neighborhood collector and River Avenue is a major collector, the standards are different for the different type of street classifications. PedJBike crossing @ PO needs to be raised due to safety concerns Center turn lane needs to be broken up visually with median plantings "CLOSE THE LOOP" - PROPERTY OWNERS COMMENTS NOVEMBER 1, 2005 Request parking spaces on the north side of River Avenue near bakery for delivery trucks. No turn on red for westbound right turning traffic to northbound River Road. "Protected only" left turn signal for eastbound left from Silver Lane to northbound River Road. Install directional sign for eastbound Silver Lane traffic to use River Avenue instead of using Beltline eastbound on ramp, thus eliminating traffic to merge to the right. Project is great! ! No pedestrian median islands Large tree near west end needs to be trimmed regularly Sight distance for traffic when planting trees near bakery and throughout the project needs to be considered What happens when tree roots push up sidewalk. Street signs coordinated with trees so trees don't hide signs. Do not to post additional sign on River Avenue to increase the speed limit to allow vehicles to speed up for Beltline onramp near crosswalk and offramp at east end, coordinate with ODOr. C:\Documents and Settings\cecxelf,Local Settings\Temporary Internet files\OLK67\200511O 1 Property Owner Comments.doc "CLOSE THE LOOP" - SANTA CLARA COMMUNITY COMMENTS NOVEMBER 3, 2005 Request bicycle pedestrian path connection to Division Street as part of River Avenue project. River Road Community Organization concerned about bio-swale and curb design Life cycle cost of bio-swales West of Ross Lane on north and south sides of street, there are set back sidewalks. That setback with street trees should utilize bioswale cleaning of storm water as that area is most heavily traveled and will need cleaning the most. So request to have bioswales with trees where ever there is set back sidewalks. Long term cost/benefit analysis would support use ofbio-swales instead of piping -let's do it right from the start. Find other streets with bio-swales as an example. Share bio-swale detail with City Council Concerned about trees being planted on north side of River Avenue, east of the post office at property owner's discretion. Request if ODOT could provide longer eastbound onramp to Beltline Do options exist to find other City funding to complete bicycle/pedestrian path connection to Division? Consider pervious concrete for sidewalks along River Avenue Keep all stakeholders on board for review in advancement of River A venue design plans C:\Documcnts and Scttings\ccexclt'\Local Scttings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK67\200SI103 seeo COffimcnts.doc "CLOSE THE LOOP" - EUGENE BICYCLE COALITION COMMENTS NOVEMBER 14,2005 Because of the speed of the automotive traffic eastbound on River Avenue, I think that incorporating pedestrian islands at each pedestrian cross walk would be a safety enhancement. I strongly urge the council to consider this pedestrian safety enhancement. I am concerned about the safety of pedestrians crossing River A venue. Striped crosswalks will not slow traffic. Pedestrian islands would promote safety for pedestrians and bicyclists in crossing the street and would help slow traffic. Otherwise, I support the project. Painted crosswalks will not slow traffic and will likely not make the crossings safer for pedestrians. National studies indicate the crossings can be safer if the paint is enhanced. The best way to do this is to include pedestrian refuge islands at the crossings. I am concerned that adding the center turn lane in the eastern end would encourage faster traffic than the earlier design (two lanes). This assumption comes from seeing the loss of friction from oncoming traffic. Pedestrian Islands requested Painted cross walks are not recognized by motorized without enhancements C:\Documents and Settings\ceexelf\LocaJ Settings\Temponuy Intemet Files\OLK67\20051114 ERe Comments. doc River Ave. Improvement Project Page 1 of3 CAHILL Michelle R From: Becky Riley [briley@efn.org} Sent: Tuesday, November 15t 2005 5:23 PM To: CAHILL Michelle R; SCHOENING Mark A Cc: ORTIZ Andrea F Subj&ct: River Ave. Improvement Project Comments on River Avenue Improvement Project I am a River Road resident~ and also a cyclist who uses the riverbank trail system and River Avenue to get to the shopping areas in Santa Clara, and near Beltline and River Road. I am glad to see improvements (especially the new road surface and bike accommodations) being made to River Avenue. and thank the City fOf giving neighborhood residents the opportunity to comment on the design. Improvements to Beltline underpass and River Road intersection: I support the idea that bike and pedestrian improvements to the Beltline underpass at the east end of River Ave. be moved up in priority~ as well as improvements to the intersection of River Ave. with River Road. It makes sense that, as bike and pedestrian improvements to River Ave. are made, improvements to these ends of the street are also made to ensure that the street is functionally connected to the likely access points and destinations for pedestrians and cyclists. The wording of the recommendations from the stakeholder group specified that "operational improvements" were recommended for the intersection of River Ave. and River Road. I am oot sure if "operational improvements" includes improvements for pedestrians and cyclist~ but I hope it does--or that such improvements would be done in any case, or prioritized in the City's future work plan. Currently, cyclists who use River Ave. are dumped straight into a very hostile intersection. If they are heading for shopping, they are then forced to mix with cars in turn lanes and again in negotiating through busy parking lots. The City has recently highlighted with a blue colored surface the segment of the bike lane that passes through the River RoadlBeltline interchange area. That helps make that one small segment a bit more visible--one hopesnto drivers, and perhaps a bit safer for cyclists. Yet, the intersection with River Ave. and areas around it remain "scary" for cyclists and pedestrians. Improvements to make the area more safe and attractive for cyclists and pedestrians might include pedestrian refuges or medians in the roadway. landscaping. striped and signed bike and pedestrian pathways through large parking lots and connecting with sidewalks and street bike paths, bike racks near commercial establishments. etc. It has been pointed out that the area near the intersection of River Ave. and River Road already is an incipient Mixed Use Center. with its mix of high density residential and commercial uses. This area would function more like a walkable neighborhood center if pedestrian improvements were incorporated. Indeed~ it seems that these improvements could be relatively easy and inexpensive for the City to implement (or encourage commercial businesses to install), and that they could have a relatively speedy and large positive effect in conjunction with the new improvements to River Ave. and the existing mixed uses in the area. Preserve and enhance natural drainage and neighborhood charact~r: The proposed design recommendations from the stakeholder group include installation of standard curbs and gutters for the full length and addition of a center turn lane at the east end (which had not been included. or deemed necessary, in the original proposal by city staff). City staff and the facilitator ofthe stakeholder process 12/2/2005 River Ave. Improvement Project Page 2 of3 have stated that natural stormwater drainage was considered ~ be very important to a majority of tile st8keholder group. Yet. though there is a vague reference to the curbs and gutters being "consistent with bioswale design where possible", the written recommendations contain no reoomtnendation to preserve or enhance the existing natural stormwater drainage system on any part of the street. It also seems that there was not time in the stakeholder meeting prooess for disc~$$ion of the property owners' proposal tQ extend the center turn lane, and whether that would effectively preclude preservation of natura1 drainage (by taking up too much of the right~of.way), or make it more expensive. I hope the totality of these recommendations will be carefully evaluated and readjusted as necessary towards the goal of preserving and enhancing natural drainage as a priority on as much of the street as possible. AU of the streets in'River Road use a natural ditch or similar drainage system. with the exception of the two "improved" streets-River Road and MaxweU--with their curbs, gutters, and storm sewers. There are multiple important reasons to preserve natural drainage. It is better than piped stonnwater systems at preserving water quality and reducing erosion; it preserves street trees and neighborhood character; it is usually less costly than standard curb, gutter and piped systems (and should reduce property owners' assessments); and it can do double duty as an landscape enhancement, increasing aesthetic appeal and making the area more pedestrian--attractive. Neighborhood residents are frequently heard commenting--at neighborhood association meetings and elsewhere--about how Wlpleasant and alienating they find River R~ad and Maxwell. Even though these streets have nominal bicycle and pedestrian "improvements", these are seriQusly under-utilized and under-appreciated by pedestrians, cyclists and local residents. Instead, the str~ets at~ shunned by cyclists and pedestrians because of the alienating visual and sensory impacts of more and wider lanes of fast traffic, and lack of landscaping or safe crossings. Indeed, River Road and Maxwell are the physical embodiment and constant reminder of City policies that area residents dislike. and fear might be forced upon the neighborhood under an annexation scenano--that is, industrial-strength lIone size fits all" city standards that are NOT compatible with our existing values and neighborhood character. Street trees, landscaping and pedestrian refuges may seem like relatively small and unimportant parts of a street design. and easy for t19n-resident commercial property owners who pay assessments to want to dispense with. Natural drainage, too, may seem like an anachronism to the City's public works staff. However, I urge the City tQ consider how important these elements can be to the ambience and actual usage of a street by cycl~ and pedestrians-.and also to protecting air and water quality and preserving neighborhood character. Also consider the resurgent interest in naturalistic drainage systems in Portland, Seattle, and other communities around the country- . their water quality benefits are now widely recognized. River Avenue, as improved, will become aoother embodiment of the City's policies and intentions in our neighborhood. I hope it will be a better ambassador than River Road and Maxwell, and think it can beu but only with some adjustments to the recommendations put forward by the stakeholder group. I hope that bioswales or other natural drainage systems will be preserved or installed on both sides of the roadway for as much ofits length as possible, eliminating the need for standard (and expensive) curbs and gutters. I also hope that the extension of the center turn lane will be reconsidered, and eliminated if necessary to redooe costs and accommodate natural drainage. I believe that two lanes at the ~ end would be sufficient to aceonunodate current and future traffic loads; and would De a lower cost design for taxpayers and for property owners, and a less overbuilt roadway more in keeping with our neighborhood character. Street trees that have already been removed by the City should be replaced. and new trees planted as per standard City code-.preferably native trees, planted in naturalistic pattern. Bioswales CQuId double as landscaping stri..~ i."",........ t1... "",.,tUft.v Slntl IIp.thlidc Illdewal1cs. so no additional planting strip would be J'lP" . Page 3 of3 Thank you for your consideration of my comments. Becky Riley 202 Hawthorne Ave. Eugene, OR 97404 Page 1 of1 CAHILL Michelle R --~-_.-......................-......~-_.__._._._-_....-.....~...._..-_._-.._.~----~.'._~"""""'~-'---"'-----_._-_._-..........-----_.............-----_._.-.---_. From: Sent: To: Cc: Richard Hughes [~hheal@yahoo.com] Friday, November 18. 2005 5:54 PM CAHILL Michelle R Hanz Scholz; Yurl Samer; John Belcher; Rex Redmon; Cory Dawson; Greg Paul; Phil Lynch; Alan Scholz; Jerry Welsh; Joel Wilson; Bill Cole; Mel Huey; Center for Appropriate Transport; SHOEMAKER lee; Paul Moore; UnknownS; NICHOLSON Paul (SMTP); Dana Corbin; Moriah Demers; Ellen Cantor; Jet Stout; Eriel Althouse; Milton Takei; Diane Bishop; Dan Robinson; Alice Pueschner; Lynda Christiansen; Lyndell Wilken; Kurt Jensen: Richard Hughes; Jean Murphy; Oregon Cycling; Kat Smith; HEINZKILL J Richard (UO); John Hegg; John Rindo; Rhonda Smith; Melissa Lobofsky; Allen Hancock; Jim Wilcox; Rick Bronson; John Repllnger; REED Mark H (UO); Karen Stingle: Webb Sussman; Sue Walling Subject: River Avenue Transportation Improvements--- Design Proposal Fall 2005 Thank you for your excellent presentations regarding the River Avenue Project. Currently the above project appears practical except for the absence of Pedestrian Refuge Islands in three locations; in front of the Veterans' Clinic, and where the two bike paths on the South side of the project meet River Avenue. These islands are necessary for pedesmans(which includes cyclists walking their bikes) needing to cross River Avenue safely,especiaUy children and the elderly.Traffic speeds are anticipated to increase with the additional lane being added,making the road less safe for pedestrians.striped crosswalks provide very little protection,if any. , I recommend that the River Avenue Project include Pedestrian Refuge Islands for the safety of all citizens in the City of Eugene. Additionally, projects like this are generally held to standards. The City Council overrode those standards and made an exception for the River Avenue Project.Since the Council has chosen to make an exception, the Bicycle Coalition is requesting to be notified when any project is going to trigger one of these exceptions so that the Coalition has time to review the project and insure that the exceptions do not prove hazardous to bicycles. Richard Hughes Eugene Bicycle Coalition,member PO Box 5506 Eugene,OR 97405 541-683-1409 Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail. yahoo.com 12/6/2005 CAHILL Michelle R From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Webb Sussman [webbs@mac.com} Tuesday. November 15, 2005 6:36 AM CAHILL Michelle R KELLY David S; PAPE' Gary 0; PIERCY Kitty; Yuri Samer; Sue Walling; Webb Sussman Some concerns about aspects of the River Avenue project To the City Council and Project Staff concerning River Avenue, Thank you to the City Staff for your clear and concise presentation to the Eugene Bicycle Coalition last night. Based on that presentation the Eugene Bicycle Coalition has two concerns that we would like Staff to pass on to the City Council when you present this project to them. The first concern deals with the project itself and the second concern has to do with the process the Council imposed on Staff. Before we state these concerns fully, we want to say "Thanks" to the staff and the Stakeholders Group for addressing most of the problems with this project. Everyone worked very hard and we think the results will speak for themselves. The Bicycle Coalition has one specific issue concerning the three areas where pedestrians and bicyclists will have to cross River Avenue. Bicyclists and pedestrians will be encouraged to cross River Avenue in front of the Veterans Clinic near the LTD station at the West end of the project and the areas directly in front of where the multi-use paths come out on to the road on the South side of the project on either end of the Waste Treatment Plant. The Stakeholders Group recommended painted crosswalks in these areas. Studies and our experience has shown that motorists do not see these painted crosswalks until they are already driving over them and without additional signs and increased police patrols the crosswalks will be ignored. By providing these three refuge islands, pedestrians and cyclists will be able to safely go from the multi-use path on the South side of the project to the bicycle lanes and the VA clinic on the North side. The refuge islands will also serve to slow traffic - a stated concern of the Stakeholders Group. We ask that these refuge islands be included in the project. Our second concern is with the process the City Council has now imposed on these projects. By creating this special category for River Avenue as an exception to standards the Council had agreed to and passed ordinances to enforce, the Council has made every road project in the City an exception to these standards. This means that Council will now have to hear appeals on any road project in the City which some group disagrees and may now have subjected themselves to court challenges should they deny an exception in some future case. Staff will now have to take extra time on all projects and budget in the likelihood that some neighborhood group will petition Council for exceptions. The Eugene Bicycle Coalition fought hard for those standards because they meant that we did not have to watch every project that the city did to make sure the bicycles and bicycle facilities were included. This is no longer the case. We request that the City notify the Coalition of ALL Public Works improvements which MAY impact bicycles in writing. We request that notification be made well before any deadlines for comment and that we have sufficient time to review the project with staff before the comment period ends. City Council has brought this on themselves and us and we are not happy with fact that they are now allowing exceptions to standards which were agreed to. Sincerely, on behalf of the Coalition, Webb Sussman 1 River Avenue Proposed Improvement List as amended and approved at the third. River Avenue Stakeholder Group meeting October 5, 2005: A THREE (3) Lane road for continuous length of River Avenue with center lane being A turn lane only fully Improved with curb, gutters and storm drainage. USE OF CURBS AND GUTTERS WILL BE CONSISTENT WITH, AND SUPPORTIVE OF, BIOSWALE DESIGN WHERE POSSIBLE. Setback sidewalks both sides (5 FT-WIDE? on west end of River Avenue up to east end of Post Office. Curbside sidewalk (5 FT- WIDE) on north side only from east end of Post Office to the east end of River Avenue with no sidewalk on south side of River A venue EAST OF THE POST OFFICE. Flat sidewalks to facilitate use of bloswaJes where possible. Bike LANES on both sides up to east end of Post Office and connected to bike path at west end of Wastewater Treatment Plant and then CONNECTING TO A 12 FT. WIDE, MULTI-USE, OFF-STREET PATH on south side only for continuous/ength of River Avenue. STRIPED crosswalks (to control speed) at east end of Post Office, Ross Lane and at the east end bike path across from the Orowheat store and possibly at the VA building. No landscaped Islands or planters on any portion of the THREE (3) lane road. Street trees to be planted at the west end only in the setback sidewalk area up to the east end of the Post Office. EAST OF THE POST OFFICE TREES WILL BE PLANTED ON THE SOUTH SIDE IN ACCORDANCE WITH CITY POLICY. ON THE NORTH SIDE, EAST OF THE POST OFFICE, TREES WILL BE PLANTED AT PROPERTY OWNERS' DISCRETION. IN ADDITION, THE RIVER AVENUE STAKEHOWER GROUP ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT THE FOLLOWING WORK BE ADVANCED AND IMPLEMENTED WITH THE RIVER AVENUE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: . * OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS TO RIVER ROAD/RIVER A VENUE INTERSECTION AS SUGGESTED BY CITY ENGINEERING STAFF; * A SEPARATED BIKE/PED PATH ON SOUTH SIDE OF RIVER AVE, CONNECTING TO SANTA CLARA NEIGHBORHOOD BENEATH BEL TLINE ON THE EAST END OF PROJECT "V~"'t~: River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: N\ V NAAA~ $.<:> M~ EJ\S-r-~D 1; fTM €lv{~lfj) ~ ~eV.s lV/fl1<.vl4 ~I p. frDE -r1IB 6'us,. ANi) ~;CC5,J( t.E /C> AN,) ~ w'd!.../L... ifNI) ;/iWtF ;pOt< /fU4'hsr Jl~ }J~ ~ ( -r.;/e S1:iJ~lA.!4Lk:. JW.JD ~lL€ LAiV€~ m td-s'f1<6fOSA-C 70 ItAB ~vAJ0 t..~ II- ~ PUW /hIv'D WELL rv1A-~ M~ eO MN\lf7E \D A:t-Jo ~ woRlL. ~ ~~ ~\) ~Bt (')\.\~ Optional: Name: IM\~ ~l-J41{D Address: --nl trl r:;r#tWtf"" #2- . R.X~~ 0t'ZG' 774'2- Written comments received by 11/15/05 will be fOfWarded to City Council in the paCket for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Email: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: fh~~ ( -if ,j ~~~~ ().-(j at~ IJ-JL/ l JjlLJ _~ A1-L~ ~.4J~ _~Hb7AdXJ rrLf1f-. .~ 0uLL ~ yalt1-A11.&~Ll/}1A fI. 4-Irf4'ALl74 d <? / { ..; .AL!-/A( d.L~ J ~1lA L 6J1~ (1.AO/J-'t-d~ ~ LO--rtd cL_ rl/l ~ tlAJ./ \~ bc..((.4.-) - J.h~. 1)::fA/.iJ.. ~~ ILhri./ ()(//Vj.n1A-4h [~.. ~.6aJJ ~t~1QLU4.J ()A.!-: .(l/YL. lJ/ip~ Lli~J~~p Ltb ~~Pr1.a~i Optional: Name: &~~~) I l . Address: c3/ I ;2 /I '-4../ ())..,LL . ~~-(tl0 Q1tJOt( Written comments received by 11/15/05 will be foiwarded to City Council in the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 EmaU: michelle.r.cahfll@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: ::r- -#';#1 fld fk eM- Y W<< "u:: ;;\~t-~~ ff::t;jz~~7 ()6..k:-l ?uAh'1.f. 6.. - ~ M\J)\~ 1lM.~ Wl(\ ~ b~ ~V~~ lL(o)Vel<~ ~IA. t\V€A ~ , Optional~ .J Name: ~I Address: ~ e~ aJ~ ~~ .9/'(0,/ Written comments received by 11/15/05 will be forwarded to City Council in the paCket for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: &ok- City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Email: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments; ::r. aWl tlk:..sed -!o see 1he fJJ-oj:J()Se~ ~~ A~ I I ~vnv~ 0j --tk t2?.;...- tJ..'-Ie 5~kt.ha{ w}1KJ'1f _7:-+ IS CA.. l~(ui rl~N ~+ .5V1.l--ks ~ ~ s bf: ev~,,~. I ~"" p"AcW,l."y~ ~~ -::k See ~ye. a..v-e... /Vb /s 1a.;vJ...r Ii.) 1ka yt}~dwU . ~se . ~:I~ ~~~;-lo /,~yt~;::~::~:wJ /~'1? rLvs 80/~ -10 ~ d~~ S'~~ o..J <:it . h~~ L,.f~.s+e o{} Mo~. ~s well \ :r. Q)~J Se-e. G\ CM.+h~cJ: {IJ p~d-t'~ ~~ ~y- ~ ",-ve.. d.w...~.()-b o-P ~ QN --{h~ to..l ~ ~\c..h J./.! I~+S o-P l~ve:5 -f.o ~k ~ 'rOa.d. .e?( \C:/<....J. f 0 h +0 c..le~A..r LAp a.f2t.ev- ev-ev.1 y~v: Optional: II . v Name; HV1.S+ - Addresa::,,~t~~~~ ~;4tfe Written comments received by 11/15105 will be forwarded to City Council in the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Email: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: -::C Ii/( ~ W-<- i 1.,# f) r- 'If. 'f I f1if<< J % >'r<--< (&t(t-- !1M/vUV-C tMrnrfs t!Jt( (jr ~>A... ~ I /)~d PN Ikt S"'SrUeDfu7 *8" ~-eN ~~r Jr' 'feu- ItM1v1I1fJWl-ilft'rtIh eN 1 f ~ ~1 ~t}f1.C(ed t9~t- \l..ejf' 1/ it 't r ;::;C:::' fh,.~ AhC' b('l!tY 11 h'elluy ktf-J [Vt<lc{(Y!*\. ~~ Ab.~ I ~ (;-~ It u 9,. ;r;. fi,v J j f in "e e s It 1t"C. '.1- pteel-f /) J't-(J b f-e. ""1. 1;J 'V{t({cJ(, ~ wfffc.U Jtltt:.. off~tJtY ;I;.e~ dk, 'H. "( I' . l"-"l' o~~d ~'f J1~ ..e qi m if Dr( W f ~ IIi rse<'A1 1Le"j ()$oJ 10 Hf'fr b~Cdtd~,:r:- dllf~ tJfY ~f'k_~ v1N, f'~ Clf1. '(? ri- LO ~ ~ K, ~ ;'jel <lJ ~ (i'f1. ~ ~1 ~-"ts ~ LDcnJ( he iNS docY' -c f Optional: Name: Y6rv /My, Address: /Q'}7 ;711 ?;fc! VH-; Written comments received by 11/15/06 will be forwarded to City Council In the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: ::~atu:ai a&f>>~ Addressag3 ~ke; ~ tJU 47;}OL) Written comments received by 11/15/05 Vim be forwarded to City Council In the paCket for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Email: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us C'\ \) River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: I ~N--L ~\~ ~ \\)lCf\ 0-& <~ ' Optional: Name: A~M1S ~ h ~U-Cf\ Ii Vf'....1> Address :,).:33 ~~ VJ..r 11 \AQ.A~ L~ ,olL d}7YoL{ Written comments received by 11/15/05 will be foiwarded to City Council in the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Emall: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: ) ~5("U--- ~2)('"u- wM Y'v\ ~ Jet 1(/ Er~ Q.\ \-,' €-V\.5 \"eAf5 \ ~O~hl:S~ . btA+ i"Y\'VcQ. _ ~ WJ+~ -this f('o~ os~j . 1 n 0+- lA./ low }'"'!:J ; ~ I c"..J} {" ~e... ~~re.>e::\-. J lz..hOvJ -C' ~ - D {hq"" , I ~ t-~ e..SC'ec.te\\~ ;-" 'f:::k +-be - 6fA{~~\ ~[l ..the-. ~ b(... nofJ,,'r.s ~ Cnn.D'1 D..r)c.e J Optional: , J Name: ~ L _ Address: ~-,.q~3 ~e~~~ , 7JolIl~ ,-. +l S+ OfL c:;.-,~ Written comments received by 11/1.5105 will be forwarded to City Council in the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Email: michelle.r.cahill@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: :L J.f AU IE CNo4L\<OO. IN Tt/,{:.. tJ:ugL IW R . /J(l~1J: ro/l 1Jt.P70$'I 8 YiEMS. Tf/:rs ftlJN $tJlI/V05 Vf:-tf ::t:'5LI/NOS /VeT f-!:fNk, tioow. TilL THnkL lMJJi. fNrTl.l :r:-.s titllifJ-l, :;:SUl-,vD ~ U5uf/-L f.( But LfHJSfi-. (?llaBLtffiJ 5'. NO Dz:> Optional: Name: K€.\J IN (1 0 TTw I (7 Address: 9-47 J-.d-... 11cfUJ t2.D. f.Lftr:r:R-ft 6)7- q 7t( 37 Written comments received by 11/15/05 will be forwarded to City Council in the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Emall: mlchelle.r.cahiU@ci.eugene.or.us River Avenue Transportation Improvements Design Concept Proposal Fall 2005 Comments: --.-- /1 - n ..-- ~ ...,v KNOUJ 7 I WJZ.. 1"\.Cc:kl) lll11rfu1\Jre~4!W-- .J" .RtVt7~ A v,. atta Hdd'pti1>. <:Iiii2.1~1/~. la..4A"f: W ttt W/!}"It, ~ A u,y. U~1Z. ::::;::. !MJ.R.tFlf.. Wrr~ 7&10 rpoJ[l"" Pa.aJ1t Optional: Name: ~~~III l:.. ~IF Address: Ct.tlWJJ.~V1S r1ial2:tl4~ JtiMf"'tJ~ I ' Written comments received by 11/15/05 will be forwarded to City Council in the packet for the 11/28/05 meeting. Comments may be mailed to or dropped off at: City of Eugene Public Works Engineering Attention: Michelle Cahill 244 E Broadway Eugene Or 97401 Email: michelle.r.cahill@cl.eugene.or.us