East 30th staff recommendation June 28

Please join us online for the 30th Avenue Active Transportation Plan Public Open House June 28, 4 p.m. and repeated at 5 p.m.

Los servicios en español estarán disponibles en la sesión de las 4 pm.

This Lane County project involves changing 30th Avenue from Agate Street to McVay Highway.

At this third and final public open house, Lane County and Toole Design staff will present their recommendations to improve safety for people driving, biking, walking, and riding transit. Staff developed these recommendations based on technical analysis and public input received over the past year of this planning process. The recommendations are:

• Pursue additional grant funding to refine the design recommendations listed below (to include environmental review, traffic modeling, exploration of additional safety measures, etc.).
• Create a wider shoulder on the south side of 30th Avenue that is buffered from vehicle traffic by a short concrete wall (Jersey Barrier). Expanding the existing pavement width is not desired to minimize environmental and geological impacts. Instead, staff recommends reallocating the existing roadway space by reducing the widths of other roadway elements. Details such as wildlife passage, safety of people walking and biking sharing the same space, and intersections with vehicle traffic, illumination, and maintenance access require evaluation as part of the subsequent design refinement process. However, the roadway should maintain the number of vehicle travel lanes until additional information is available about future development impacts of the City of Eugene’s 27-year Urban Reserve process.
• Add a center turn lane at the Forest Blvd. & 30th intersection. There have been crashes at this intersection. People making left-hand turns block thruway traffic, increasing the risk of rear-end and head-on crashes.
• Enhance bicycle and pedestrian crossings at the Forest Blvd. & Gonyea intersection and under the 30th Avenue & Gonyea bridge to improve the safety of people walking and biking to the Lane Community College Campus and surrounding City of Eugene parks.
• Replace the T-intersection of Eldon Schafer Drive & 30th Avenue with a roundabout. The roundabout is anticipated to maintain four lanes of vehicle traffic and must ensure safe and efficient passage of freight through the corridor and to the Lane Community College Campus. Bicycle and pedestrian safety and crossings to access the bus stops at the intersection also need attention. These details require confirmation in a subsequent design process.
• Request the City of Eugene consider installing a roundabout at the Agate & 30th intersection. Several people in the area expressed safety concerns with the existing intersection configuration.
• Request the Oregon Department of Transportation: add warning lights/signs to the 30th Avenue I-5 Bridge until interchange upgrades occur to accommodate multimodal traffic; consider a roundabout or other interchange enhancements to improve traffic operations at McVay & 30th Avenue intersection; and explore ways to improve walking and biking conditions on McVay Highway, including off-road alternatives.

Why

The purpose of the meeting is to share: the proposed design elements, the reasons for the recommended changes, and how the public may provide additional input. This planning effort, recommended in the 2017 Lane County Transportation System Plan, is to consider changes to Lane County’s portion of 30th Avenue east of Spring Blvd, because:

• It has had more fatalities and serious injuries involving people walking and biking than any other road under Lane County’s jurisdiction.
• An older recommendation in the 2014 Lane County Transportation System Plan calls for the removal of the clover leaf-shaped interchange at Gonyea & 30th Avenue without guidance on replacement.
• Operational issues exist at the Eldon Schafer Drive & 30th Avenue intersection that creates traffic congestion onto the McVay & 30th Avenue intersection which fails to meet mobility standards.

In addition to the online option, you can also attend by telephone at +1 651 372 8299 (Meeting ID: 833 6255 9775, Passcode: 743774).

How to Provide Additional Input

Following the June 28 public meeting, the public may submit comments and questions about the recommendation directly to Project Manager Becky Taylor by July 12, 2022. The public is invited to a public hearing before the Lane County Transportation Advisory Committee (TrAC) on September 28, 2022 to provide written and/or oral testimony in favor or opposed to the staff recommendation. The TrAC will recommend to the Board of County Commissioners whether to approve, modify, or deny the staff recommendation.

For more information, visit the project website at www.lanecountyor.gov/30thAvenue.