Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/09/2012 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEE I -ING OF THF_ SPRINGFIELD CITY CO UNC7L 7 -LE,LD MONDAY, JULY 9, 2072 Thy City o£ Springficld Council met in a work session in the Jassy Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday., July 9, 201 2 at 5 -30 p.m -, with Mayor Lundberg presiding - A TT ENDAIV C E Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pish ioneri, Moore, Ralston and Woodrow- Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Matthew Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff - Councilors VanGordon and Wylie were absent (excused)_ 1 - Lane Transit District (L'I'D) Altar ti—s Analysis, Manz Street and McVay Highway Corridors - Transportation Engineer David Reesor presented the staff report on this item- The Lane Transit District had been awarded $750,000 by the Federal Transit Administration to complete an Alternatives Analysis for improving transit services in the Main Street (OR I26I3) and McVay Highway corridors - Both ofthese corridors were currently State highways within the Springfield urban growth boundary, and a successful outcome would require strong collaboration between the City and LTD - The City and LTD had paru —d successfully on two bus rapid transit projects in Springfield- the downtown to downtown EmX project which included the construction of the Springfield Station, and the Gateway EmX line- Experience on these projects had shown that a. successful outcome was greatly enhanced by identifying key values acid priorities for each agency regarding the project, and by reaching agreement early about how the two agencies would interact during the project. This work session was an opportunity for Council to share its thinking about what would be important for the City during the Alternatives Analysis- Attachment 3 of the agenda packet was a list of issues potentially of interest to the Council for the conversation with LTD- The list was by no means inclusive, and was provided as a starting point to stimulate thinking about how to proceed with the projact- This was the first of two work sessions in a two week period. City and LTD staff expected that this first work session was an opportunity. for Council to provide input to LTD on the project- At the July 23 work session, it was anticipated that LTD would provide information and recommendations in response to Council input - Mr. Reesor introduced LTD General Matzager Ron Kilcoyne. Mr. Kilcoyne introduced Board Members Mika Eystar and Doris Towery who represented the Springfield area. Mr- Eyster was the former Chair of the LTD Board and Ms- -Fow ty was now Vice - chair. LTD staff attending the meeting were Andy Vobora, Director o£the recently combined Planning/Marketing /Accessible Services "apartment and John Evans, project manager for the West Eugene EmX- The purpose of the work session was to hear from the Council- LTD received a grant to perform an alternatives analysis from a corridor that would run from Lane Community College (LCC) thorough downtown Springfield and out to Thurston- The alternatives analysis was the opening City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 9, 2012 Page 2 planning process to determine what would be appropriate for this corridor. LTD would like to approach this corridor in a full partnership with the City and approach the planning in a bottoms -up design process. As they entered this process, they wanted to work with the City, business neighborhood groups along the corridor and other stakeholders. In partnership with the City, they could look at the corridor in a much broader context to see if there were other things that could be done in the corridor at the same time as the transit improvements. They did a similar process with the University of Oregon when they built the transit station at the same time the City of Eugene reworked 18`i' Street. Each project was separate with separate funding, but were coordinated at the same time. The idea of bottoms -up planning was that each stakeholder would lay out the outcomes they desired. For LTD that could include speed and reliability and the desire to increase transit ridership. The City and other groups could have other outcomes. Those outcomes would be taken and worked together to come up with an affordable realistic plan that could achieve those outcomes. This was a different approach than had been taken in the past, but they hoped it would have more inclusion and would be more acceptable to the community. Councilor Ralston said the overview of the alternatives analysis looked at addressing solutions for problems. He asked what the problems were and whose problems they were. Mr. Kilcoyne said from transit perspectives, `outcomes' was a better choice of words. Part of LTD's outcomes included improved speed of service where there was congestion and improved reliability (both day -to -day and long term reliability). They wanted to look at how to address those things. Every year for the last several years, LTD had added an average of about I% or less of service hours because travel times were slowing down. Adding 1 % in service hours, but not improving service was not a good use of resources. LTD would like to avoid the need to increase service hours because it took longer to get from one point to another. The City might have other outcomes and that's why LTD wanted to hear from the Council. Councilor Ralston said when he looked at all of this, the corridor made sense. He was concerned and didn't want bus traffic slowing down car traffic. He asked how LTD hoped to resolve the speed issue. Mr. Kilcoyne said the solution could vary from location to location, and part of this process was to determine the solution. If the City's outcome was that they wanted to see auto traffic speeds maintained or improved, and LTD had a certain outcome for transit traffic, the effort in the design process would be to come up with a win -win and accomplish both. Councilor Ralston said LTD currently had service from LCC to Thurston. He didn't see this as the City's problem. LTD was looking for a solution and asking the City to partner, but he didn't see that as a City problem. Mr. Vobora said the Thurston route was the most heavily travelled route segment in the city outside the EmX and a couple of direct routes to the University, with over 3000 boardings a day from downtown to Thurston. LTD heard from customers every week that the busses were slowed down so much they were on top of each other. When that occurred, one of the busses was taken out of service and service reliability the riders were impacted. Those were residents going to and from locations in Springfield. He felt it was important to look at how to improve those services and still maintain the outcome the City wanted to see regarding automobile and freight traffic. This process allowed the opportunity to look at those outcomes. He discussed some of the possibilities to address outcomes. West Eugene had a short segment of exclusive lanes, some mixed traffic and some shared use lanes. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 9, 2012 Page 3 There was some great flexibility in how it was designed to achieve the outcomes for both LTD and the City. Councilor Ralston said the vast majority of people were driving their cars. He didn't believe more people would use transit just because it was designed better. His frustration was when he had to stop behind a bus every time they stopped. It was not a city problem. The City had funds to build and maintain roads, but it was not the City's job to transport people from one place to another. He wanted to see all citizens benefitting. Mr. Kilcoyne said that was why they wanted to take this approach so all citizens could benefit. Councilor Pishioneri said living in Thurston he saw how heavily the bus was used. It was worth looking at to weigh the pros and cons of the system. It was important to look at these and talk about how this system could serve the greatest number of citizens. He wanted to see it positively impact all citizens. There was an opportunity now to mitigate some of the inconveniences of the current system. He discussed some issues with the bike lane on Main and 14'' Street. They needed to have a design that was good for both riders and drivers. There was opportunity through this process that could positively impact what we had today. Councilor Moore said she saw this as an opportunity and felt that transportation of all types was a City issue. She asked if the McVay highway went outside Springfield's UGB. Mr. Kilcoyne said that was correct. They would be working with Lane County and the City of Eugene as it also went into Eugene. Councilor Moore asked about the current route to LCC and if it went out McVay Highway. Yes. She asked if it had a lot of riders. Mr. Kilcoyne said it was LTD's fourth most productive route. Currently, it ran every half hour, but it desperately needed more service during peak times. Councilor Moore said she was very pleased with the opportunities that had come along with EmX. She took every opportunity when going to downtown Eugene or the University to ride the EmX because of parking. She didn't drive Main Street in the mornings or afternoons so had not experienced the traffic difficulties Councilors Ralston and Pishioneri discussed. She was excited about seeing an expansion of the very successful EmX corridor that was in Springfield. She was also interested in seeing a route from 28d' Street to Jasper and up 42"d Street for the future Relief Nursery. The Relief Nursery would be relying on a lot of volunteers and it would be great for them to have bus transportation. Councilor Woodrow said she had been an EmX advocate all along so she liked the idea. She asked how the route along Main Street would affect traffic. That was a consideration because it was a main route. She felt the traffic on Main Street had increased by a large number in the last five or six years and was heavily travelled. Trucks, bikes and pedestrians were also a consideration along that route, as well as business traffic. Mr. Eyster urged them to think about the future. Our streets would continue to get more congested with automobiles, so they needed to think ahead about 30 years from now. Transit did attract voluntary riders. Many people chose to leave their vehicles at home if the transit system was convenient enough. They had experienced that with EmX so far and had expanded ridership tremendously. They knew that City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 9, 2012 Page 4 increased people would ride transit if it was convenient and reliable. It was not the role of LTD to impose anything on Springfield or Eugene. It was their role to offer to them highly effective cutting edge technology and service. If Council was not prepared for that or ready for the controversy that would come, he would suggest they don't do this. That should be clear from the beginning. Councilor Ralston said he was concerned about the cost. The City didn't have extra money and felt LTD would be asking for that at some point from the City or its citizens. Mr. Eyster said the controversy would be from those that opposed EmX for different reasons. Some believe it would negatively impact their business, and others disagreed philosophically with the use of Federal money for this type of project. They needed to determine what the community valued. Councilor Ralston said he didn't feel it would be voluntary and would be so onerous people felt they had to ride. He would not be leaving his car, nor would most people he knew. He was on the opposition. Mayor Lundberg said her understanding was that the City had already held a discussion about this corridor and had determined that they wanted to participate with this leg of the EmX. Councilor Pishioneri said that was his recollection as well. He felt it was Council's duty to look at the future needs of the City. There were already issues with busses on Main Street so this could be an opportunity to mitigate some of those current issues while looking at future issues. Part of due diligence was to look at the real outcomes and the things that could be quantified as an example, the Council was also looking at downtown to see what steps could be taken today to help the downtown in the future. They needed to take small steps forward. Councilor Woodrow said she was from an area where transit was common and convenient, and convenience was the key. She noted Councilor Moore's comment about service to the Relief Nursery and said if there was a way to accommodate that in the future it would be great. Convenience and reliability was the key to getting people to use transit. If those were the focus, it gave the City something to advocate and bring to the community in a more positive way. Without answers they didn't have anything to promote, and without promotion, there could be no EmX system along this corridor. Councilor Moore asked if LTD had any information about positive impacts EmX had on Springfield to date with the two existing lines. She would like that information. Councilor Pishioneri noted that there were businesses opposed to the current EmX along Pioneer Parkway and Gateway. He asked if they had heard from those people now that the line was operating. Mr. Vobora said they had not received any negative calls. The biggest complaints they received were regarding a misunderstanding of how the queue jump light at the Crossroads Shopping Center worked. They were seeing that people were advertising homes for sale as being near EmX. Ridership met the goal for the opening year along Gateway. Ridership averaged over 10,000 boardings each weekday on the EmX and 44,000 boardings each weekday throughout the system when school was in session. They hadn't had any complaints that he was aware of from anyone. The route being discussed tonight was not necessarily the full corridor from Thurston to LCC. There were many options. This first step was just a study of these corridors. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 9, 2012 Page 5 Ms. Towery said they were looking at this for the future, but there were issues that needed to be dealt with now as well. As the system was developed people would choose to ride, but currently many of our neighbors in both Eugene and Springfield didn't have the option. Having a dependable, reliable and efficient bus system was critically important for their quality of life and for their ability to get to and from their job. It did become a quality of life issue whether it was by choice or because that was their only option. As gas prices continued to grow, there would be more choice riders. She didn't think this was just LTD's problem, but was an issue that needed to be looked at as a community as a whole. As partners and neighbors, they needed to make sure everyone had that access to allow people to have the quality of life and lifestyle they wanted in Springfield. The value system was that we took care of each other and wanted to be engaged and take part of all of the amazing things our area had to offer. Councilor Moore said students were another group that normally didn't have automobiles available to them and rode the bus. She asked if they didn't have bus service on certain holidays. Mr. Kilcoyne said they didn't have service on six holidays of the year. Councilor Moore said her exchange students wanted to go to the Springfield Celebration on the 4th of July, but their friends had no way to get there because the buses weren't running. Mr. Kilcoyne said they cut out the holiday service when they had to cut back service. Councilor Moore said she understood, but there would be people that would take advantage of riding the buses on holidays to go shopping. Ms. Towery said there were also people that worked on those holidays that didn't have access to the buses. Mr. Kilcoyne said they hoped to restore the holiday service in the future Mr. Grimaldi referred to Attachment 3 of the agenda packet which included discussion topics and Council involvement. He asked where Council wanted to be brought in on the process. Mayor Lundberg said last time they met, LTD had applied for the funding with this corridor with the understanding the City was supportive of this corridor. Tonight they were in the process of determining how the process should work so things didn't get bogged down. Mayor Lundberg said she had sat in on discussions for all of the EmX corridors and had seen all the things that could go right and wrong. The City had decided to go forward and now they needed to decide how to conduct ourselves and with what results. This was a joint venture. She was a big fan of McVay because it addressed a big traffic issue getting to LCC. The worst she had seen of these processes was when a property owner was not notified and business people felt left out. In Gateway, the City had a concurrent process with upgrades that ran parallel with LTD. People affected wanted everything (both projects) to be on the same map so they could see how each affected the other. The City needed to participate and together they needed to think creatively and let people participate in the changes. It would behoove the City to be as participatory as possible because they were the ultimate decision makers. She wanted the City Council to know what was going on every step of the way. There would be opposition that they needed to be prepared for. Councilor Ralston said he was onboard with them doing the study, but if they did something that would adversely affect drivers, they would hear from the public. The public needed to be aware along City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 9, 2012 Page 6 the way. If they put in a separate bus lane, it would cost a lot in easements. He didn't see this as a City problem regarding the cost. Mr. Vobora acknowledged Councilor Ralston's concern regarding cost. A recent transportation bill was passed that funded projects like EmX. There were capital dollars and operating dollars. The benefit of this corridor along Main Street was the high level of service already provided, which could mean a savings in operating dollars by spending capital dollars through the design elements. Capital funding was always unsure, but LTD did know that additional funding for these types of projects had been approved federally. LTD had made a commitment that the matched funds would not be through local dollars. Those dollars were needed to run their service so they were looking at partnerships outside of the community to help with that funding. If the funding couldn't be secured, they would not move forward. Mr. Eyster said this was a partnership and they were currently in the discovery process. This would be difficult and complicated, and if the Council was not willing to accept that, they may need to consider not moving forward. They both knew enough about the product to know it was interesting and worth further exploration. If that further exploration led to a project they wanted to do, they needed to move forward whole heartedly. If they found it wasn't in their best interest, they should walk away. Councilor Moore said the Council represented the people of Springfield, but she would also like to see the citizens of Springfield involved in this process. They needed to let citizens know the City was talking with LTD about this study. She would be more than happy to encourage that in the community. Mr. Kilcoyne said working together they could make sure they did involve people. In West Eugene, they heard from people that they hadn't been contacted, yet the record indicated a great deal of outreach. He had been in this business for 32 years and had been involved in service restructuring and found that there were always some people who said they had never been contacted. Working together would be more successful in reaching all the people needed. One property often had multiple interests; residents, business owners or property owners. He had already heard from people that were fighting the West Eugene EmX that would be coming to fight this route in Springfield. That was unfortunate because LTD was approaching this with a blank sheet of paper to look at outcomes for the City, businesses, and owners and designing something that addressed all of those concerns. How it addressed those concerns would be different at different spots along the corridor. Councilor Woodrow asked if during the discovery process they could determine the number of teams and the itemization of teams. If the City had individual representation on the different project teams, they would get better information and come together as a unified force. Ms. Towery said Councilor Wylie served on the EmX Steering Committee. She agreed they needed to have two -way communication so issues could be addressed. Mayor Lundberg asked if they had the answers they needed. A prime example was the creativity that went into creating the right layout for the Guistina property along International Way. Through that process they were able to make it work. It took City and LTD staff walking out there and working together with the property owners for a solution. That was the type and level of involvement needed. Mr. Grimaldi said staff would explore some topics that Council had highlighted. There were some things in the agenda item they would want to expand on to determine how to work together. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 9, 2012 Page 7 Mr. Eyster said the two things LTD could provide included the benefits to Springfield from the EmX lines and also how to articulate ways Council could get more involved. He agreed it would be a much better project if they were working together. Ms. Towery said it would also be nice to talk about what LTD could do better regarding outreach and other ways to get people involved. Mayor Lundberg confirmed they had what they needed to move forward to the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:26 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy Sc6a City Recorder