HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Packet May 2016Note: Anyone wishing to speak at any Transportation Commission meeting is encouraged to do so. If you wish to speak, please
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AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER: 6:00 PM, Civic Center Council Chambers, 1175 E. Main Street
II. ANNOUNCEMENTS
III. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of Minutes: April 28, 2016
IV. PUBLIC FORUM
V. NEW BUSINESS
A. Traffic Growth and Management Grant Application
Discuss TSP grant application and study refinements (20 min.)
B. Grandview Shared Road
Discuss public meeting and next steps (10 min.)
VI. OLD BUSINESS
A. Tolman Creek and Siskiyou Blvd. Stop Sign (30 min.)
Next Steps
B. Nevada Bridge Connection Project (10 min.)
Next Steps
VII. FOLLOW UP ITEMS
A. Downtown Parking and Multi Modal Circulation Study Update-Improvement Projects
Discuss Previous Meeting and Study Status
VIII. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
A. Action Summary
B. Accident Report
C. Making and Impact Newsletter (May)
IX. COMMISSION OPEN DISCUSSION
X. FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS
A. Street User Fee
B. Bicycle Education Funding-Parks Department
XI. ADJOURNMENT: 8:00 PM
Next Meeting Date: June 23, 2016
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the
Public Works Office at 488-5587 (TTY phone number 1 800 735 2900). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City
to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title I).
Transportation Commission
Contact List as of May 2016
Name Title Telephone Mailing Address Email Address Expiration of Term
Dominic Barth Commissioner 617-840-5425 586 ½ C Street dofriesgowiththatshake@yahoo.com 4/30/2018
Danielle Amarotico Commissioner 541-840-3770 265 Alta Avenue Danielle@CommonBlockBrewing.com 4/30/2017
Joe Graf Commissioner 541-488-8429 1160 Fern Street jlgtrans15@gmail.com 4/30/2018
Alan Bender Commissioner 541-488-4967 145 Almond Street Alan.bender@erau.edu 4/30/2017
Corinne Vièville Commissioner 541-488-9300 805 Glendale Avenue corinne@mind.net 4/30/2016
or 541-944-9600
David Young Commissioner 541-488-4188 747 Oak Street dyoung@jeffnet.org 4/30/2018
Sue Newberry Commissioner 775-720-2400 2271 Chitwood Lane sue.j.newberry@gmail.com 4/30/2016
Non-Voting Ex Officio Membership
Mike Faught Director of Public Works 541- 488-5587 20 E. Main Street faughtm@ashland.or.us
Stefani Seffinger Council Liaison 541-708-3665 20 E. Main Street stefani@council.ashland.or.us
Brandon Goldman Planning Department 541- 488-5305 20 E. Main Street goldmanb@ashland.or.us
Steve MacLennan Police Department 541- 552-2433 20 E. Main Street maclenns@ashland.or.us
Scott Hollingsworth Fire Department 541- 552-2932 20 E. Main Street hollings@ashland.or.us
Janelle Wilson SOU Liaison 541-552-8328 1250 Siskiyou Blvd wilsonjan@sou.edu
VACANT Ashland Schools
Dan Dorrell PE ODOT 541- 774-6354 100 Antelope Rd WC 97503 Dan.w.dorrell@odot.state.or.us
Paige Townsend RVTD 541- 608-2411 3200 Crater Lake Av 97504 ptownsend@rvtd.org
VACANT Ashland Parks 20 E. Main Street
Jenna Stanke Jackson County Roads 541- 774-6231 200 Antelope Rd WC 97503 stankeJS@jacksoncounty.org
David Wolske Airport Commission david@davidwolske.com
Staff Support
Scott Fleury Eng. Service Manager 541-488-5347 20 E. Main Street fleurys@ashland.or.us
Karl Johnson Associate Engineer 541-552-2415 20 E. Main Street johnsonk@ashland.or.us
Kyndra Irigoyen Administrative Assistant 541-552-2427 20 E. Main Street irigoyenk@ashland.or.us
Transportation Commission
April 28, 2016
Page 1 of 9
ASHLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
MINUTES
April 28, 2016
CALL TO ORDER
Graf called the meeting to order at 6:08pm
Commissioners Present: Danielle Amarotico, Dominic Barth, Joe Graf, David Young, Corinne Viéville, Alan Bender,
and Sue Newberry
Council Liaison Absent: Stef Seffinger
SOU Liaison Present: Janelle Wilson
Staff Present: Scott Fleury, Kyndra Irigoyen, and Mike Faught
Staff Absent: None
ANNOUNCEMENTS
None.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approval of March 24, 2015 minutes
The minutes were approved as presented.
ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
None.
PUBLIC FORUM
Phil Miller, 129 S. Laurel St.
He said he sent an email to some of the commissioners about the corner of Almond St. and S. Laurel St. He said it is
way past the time for dealing with the dust problem here. His yard and vehicles are covered in thick dust every day
and gravel is abundant. There needs to be a solution immediately. Heavy trucks tear up the corners and dust rises
10ft high on a dry day; he included photos from the street. Last year an attempt was made by the street sweeper to
sweep and vacuum the gravel, which created choking clouds of dust. He and his wife have been diagnosed with
asthma and he thinks it is from the dust. He said they need assistance in getting the dust problem under control and
that we cannot wait for grants that are years out. Bender said he can attest to this, as he lives a block away from this
area and the dust is bad. Faught said he received the email today and will forward it to the commission.
Louise Shawkat, 870 Cambridge St.
She said the City is developing a climate and energy action plan, thus all aspects of city operations need to be
thinking of how to contribute to the success of the plan. The goal of the plan is to change the behavior of all citizens
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation is a primary contribution to climate change. As the role of the
Transportation Commission is to advise the City Council on transportation related issues, relating to safety, planning,
funding, and advocacy for bicycle, transit, parking, pedestrian and all other modes of transportation. An important
component of the commission’s role is to reduce emissions from vehicles. She said education could be a piece of the
commission’s contribution to greenhouse gas reduction. Citywide education and eco driving would include changing
drivers’ behaviors, which could reduce fuel consumption on average by 10%. She says she is using the term eco
driving for two reasons: first, we must consider ecological and environmental issues in our actions and secondly, we
need to incorporate the idea of economics, which is an added benefit of employing these techniques.
NEW BUSINESS
Car Share-Zip Car SOU
Fred Creek, from Southern Oregon University (SOU) stated he brought this program to SOU about a year ago. He
These minutes are pending approval by this Committee
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April 28, 2016
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has been in the parking business for the past 18 years. They are averaging about 30 users per month for two cars.
He said this is great considering it is a new program and has not been promoted heavily, this shows a need for the
program. He is trying to reduce the number of cars on campus, especially for the freshman population. There has
been 341 reservations, 1598 hours of use, 17,656 miles driven, and 52 miles average distance driven per
reservation. The average cost per reservation is $32. In the last year, 118,400 pounds of CO2 reduced carbon
emissions, which is a good step in the right direction.
Graf asked about the faculty use. Creek said 90% of students use it. He said a few citizens have used them and they
have some corporate users who come into town for business. Bender said on average these people are probably
driving to Medford. He asked if Creek saw expansion outside of student use. Creek said Zip Car is excited about the
participant level we have. There is a grant through the Ford Corporation and Zip Car that the university receives
which helps to reduce the first initial fee by $35. Each user has to pay $25 to enroll in the program. Creek said he
wants to get the freshman population into using the transportation that is available instead of bringing their own.
Young asked if a user only has to sign up once to use zip car anywhere. Creek said yes, there is only one sign up.
Young said this is something that has no limit and has many community applications as well. He asked about
capacity and if students have had a hard time reserving the car. Creek said there has been a couple of times when
students have been waiting for the car to return to campus in order to use it. He said Zip Car has a formula for when
a new car will be implemented. Young said this is the trend of the future and having it at SOU is great for a mini
model. Creek said he is hoping to add one or two more cars to the program.
Barth asked if this were to expand, could there be dedicated parking spots and would this be an issue. Faught said
we could look at that and work with SOU if needed. Fleury asked if Zip Car did all the mechanical maintenance.
Creek said yes they do.
Nevada Bridge Connection Project
Faught reviewed his presentation on the design options for the bridge. The proposed bridge has been in the
Transportation System Plan (TSP) since 1998. When the 2012 plan was completed, this project became a high
priority project for the community. There are three options for the bridge. It will be a 200 ft. span across the creek, a
total length of 650 linear feet of improvements. East Nevada St. is designated as a collector street and is designed to
carry more traffic volume in the future. The number of trips per day for a collector road is between 3,000 and 10,000.
We have been working on this since 2012. We have secured a $1.5 million dollar grant, and there is another million
dollars in System Development Charges (SDC) for this project. The project funding needs are little over $3 million
total.
He displayed aerial photos of the road. The greenway is planning to extend through to the other side of Ashland
Creek and to the area of the proposed bridge. This bridge would allow the extension for the greenway. The bridge
would allow children to walk to school vs. parents having to drive their children to school. He said that RVTD was
here a few months ago explaining that without this connection, Route 8 would not work. This could be another
bypass for people who live in town. It is a much easier connection to go across Oak St. and hit Eagle Mill Rd. and not
use N. Main. St. If this bridge were to be built it would reduce traffic on N. Main St. and little bit on the freeway, while
increasing traffic on this bypass.
There are three options for the bridge. Option A will cost $6 million and is a standard bridge or cross-section. It would
have sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides. Option B is a bike boulevard and will cost $5 million. This option has
the bike lane and sidewalks on one side of the bridge. It reduces conflicts for cars and pedestrians while moving
across the bridge and there would be a barrier separating the pedestrians and the cars. Option C will cost $6.3
million and contains two bridges, one for pedestrians/bicycles and one for vehicles.
Newberry asked for clarification on collector streets. Faught said a boulevard is a street like N. Main St. and is meant
to collect high volumes of traffic and designed to bring all the residential traffic into the primary area. A collector street
is the next level and designed for high volumes of traffic between 3,000 and 10,000 trips a day. The idea is to collect
all the traffic from residential areas. The next step outside of that are residential collectors, which move traffic to the
collector streets.
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Amarotico asked if there was more funding available for option C to build two separate bridges. Faught said there is
not enough funding. Viéville asked about a designated truck route. Faught said it is designed to carry the load like
any other collector street but will not be designated as a route for trucks.
Young asked if this is a done deal, depending on what option we use. Faught said we have discussed this before and
that we are a long way down the road. All of the conversations have been included in packets from the Planning
Commission and from the City Council discussions. We are on the road to secure more grant funding. When there is
community involvement we give the opportunity to citizens to give input, but we have moved quite far on this project
since 2012.
Young asked if there is an option just for a pedestrian bridge. Faught said no, we have only looked at an option that
includes a vehicle bridge. Young asked if there has been a real estimate of cost. Faught said the engineers have
walked through unit costs of the project, so the estimate is good at this point.
Bender asked for more clarification on RVTD’s stance for the bridge. Faught said RVTD updated the commission on
transit a couple of months ago and said RVTD cannot make Route 8 happen without the bridge.
Graf wonders if the streets on either side of the bridge need to be updated since this is a collector street. Faught said
this was addressed in the TSP; East and West Nevada Streets will not need to be updated. Graf asked for more
clarification on the amount of funding we have for this project. Faught said we have $1.5 million in grant funding and
$1 million in SDC money so far.
Graf said after we receive public input and information from everyone, we will then as a commission discuss what our
recommendations are for the next steps and decide if we need more information or more questions answered by
staff.
Faught said the money for this project is coming from $3.25 million in grants. He also stated we have hired Al
Densmore to look for additional grant money and we have looked at borrowing money to pay that with our existing
street funds.
Public Testimony:
Mark Knox, 485 W. Nevada St.
He works on E. Nevada St. and it takes him 2.2 miles using the Eagle Mill Way route or 2.4 miles using the Hersey
St. route to get to work from where he lives. One route takes six minutes and the other takes eight minutes. If the
bridge were to be built it would take 1.8 miles and 4 minutes to get to work, with a 50% reduction in carbon
emissions. He mentioned he sent a packet of information about the needs for the bridge and justifications for the
bridge to the commission. He feels the bridge will help connect people; we have great north/south connection
patterns, but not great east/west patterns. This will help to reduce congestion on certain streets. He is in support of
the bridge. This is about reducing congestion and moving people around. There has been a substantial amount of
growth in Ashland over the last 20 years, but we have not had many infrastructure changes to accommodate that.
Tom Regler, 275 E. Nevada St.
He lives right next to the proposed bridge. One thing he would like to address, with the completion of the salmon
ladder, a $1.7 million project; it has made it a very beautiful and sacred place. He would hate to see the bridge built
due to the pollution it would cause to the creek because we actually have salmon back now. He would like to see a
bicycle and pedestrian bridge. He said there is not any photos about that side of the creek and he is curious as to
why that is. It does not show how close it is coming to the proximity of his home or his neighbors’ homes and he
asked about elevation. Faught said we had an architect give us an idea of what this would look like. The plan is to
shift the road 15 ft. to the south so there will be access to the homes that come up on the side of the bridge. We are
not in full design mode yet. Fleury said an exact elevation is not available yet. The estimates are for 3 ft. above the
100-year water surface elevation, which will allow debris to flow under it and create a no rise impact for a 100-year
storm event for this location. Hegler said he is very knowledgeable about the 100-year flood plain because he has
lived there for 12 years. He wonders how we are going to make sure this bridge will stay out of the 100-year flood
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plain. Fleury said if we move into a more formal design phase, this would be evaluated using the environmental and
hydraulic modeling.
Spike Breon, 295 E. Nevada St.
He said he wanted to address the traffic going from Mountain Meadows to Helman School. If there is a
pedestrian/bike bridge the kids can get to school that way, if it rains, they can take the school bus, which runs down
Mountain Ave. to Hersey St. and back over to Helman St. and up so there will not be any need for cars to go across
it. We do not need a $5 million bridge for 4-5 kids that go to school there now. When he looked at the flood zone, it
looked like the bridge was in the 100-year flood zone. He said the City would need a certification from FEMA that the
bridge is not going to raise the base flood level, if it is, you have to get an exception from them. He said a bike and
pedestrian bridge could be big enough to allow an emergency vehicle or a bus. There are designs that allow only
emergency vehicles to get over, such as putting in a barrier or a large hump in the road.
Marty Breon, 295 E. Nevada St.
She apologized for having misspoken when she first learned about the bridge. She said she has started to see the
big picture and she understands this bridge idea has been floating around for the past twenty years. In her defense,
no one else knew about it either. She hopes that since this is the initial meeting to find out the details, that we take
the time to think about it and not to make any decisions too quickly. She supports a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, or
emergency access. She asked everyone to give it time.
Kirk Pearson, 1150 Oak St.
He lives at the corner of W. Nevada St. and Oak St. His concerns are traffic wise. There is a lot of traffic on Oak St.
and Mountain St. It seems like Hersey St. and Eagle Mill are collectors for that. There is a lot of traffic coming in from
Eagle Mill, going under the freeway and up to Mountain Ave. and he would prefer that route get improved. On Oak
St. and Nevada St. there would have to be some kind of stop sign to allow traffic to make the left hand turn. He said
he could see traffic backing further up the street. He would like to see a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. His concern
with that is that the foot and bicycle traffic would increase. He said that 3,000 cars on this street sounds crazy.
Tom Marr, 955 N. Mountain Ave.
He has lived here for more than 20 years and has been in the Ashland area for more than 40 years. He said he
opposes this bridge project for vehicles. He said introducing through traffic, in what is now a family neighborhood with
schoolchildren, transcending to a retirement community. N. Mountain Ave. already has a bad hump that is hard to
see over where there is a crosswalk. Increasing traffic is going to increase the probability of dangerous accidents.
Increasing traffic on N. Mountain Ave. where there are baseball fields occasionally causing foul balls to go into the
street with children running after them. He does not think the streets will be able to handle this amount of traffic. The
streets are narrow with sharp curves and does not seem feasible. He does not feel this project represents the
direction the City is currently going in, towards road diets and conservation in general. It does not represent the
global issue of declining fossil fuels and increased climate change and it further increases the use of vehicles. He
supports a pedestrian and bicycle bridge only.
Stephany Smith Pearson, 1150 Oak St.
She opposes a vehicle bridge. She said the traffic on Oak St. is atrocious. Even though there are speed bumps,
people drive 40-50 MPH up and down the street. She has seen people pass on this street and near accidents here all
the time. There are a lot of kids that go up and down Oak St. These roads are not prepared to take on this amount of
traffic. She thinks this is a backwards step, for a city that is supposed to be green and committed to environmental
causes. She thinks the money could be better spent on something else like an electric trolley or other options. She is
very supportive of a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, but letting vehicles cross the bridge is not in the best interest of
the town and does not uphold our best values.
Nancy Driscoll, 348 Fair Oaks Ave. and Felising Bietz, 924 Kestrel Parkway
Driscoll said she lives in the 300-year flood plain, which is rapidly becoming a 100-year flood plain, and engineering
is going to be expensive. Bietz said she looked at all the different options for the E. Nevada St. Bridge, and with it
being such a narrow road it is hard to visualize more traffic on this road. When driving to her home, very often there
are cars coming up, and she has had to back up and pull off to the side of the road to allow a big truck to pass her.
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She realizes that some of her neighbors park their cars behind their homes, so she cannot imagine all of this traffic
going up and down E. Nevada St. She would really like to see a path for pedestrians and bicycles, but does not see
the reasoning behind building a bridge for vehicles. Discroll said many of the comments made tonight are very valid
comments. She rides her bike and tries not to use her car. She lives at the bottom of a new development that is
becoming a 90% impermeable surface and is increasing in volume and velocity of the water entering the creek. She
said she has watched two floods in the past 12 months that covered the lower part of Kestrol and entered the
mitigation pond that is being filled with silt due to drag out. To put a bridge there and add more pollution and cars
there seems crazy.
David Helmich, 468 Williamson Way and James Flint, 355 Fair Oaks
Flint said he can see the pros in providing the east and west connection. He is against the project as outlined in A, B,
and C and does not see how spending $6 million in this area is a benefit. It would take a lot of time to reduce carbon
emission, from the few people who work on the east side and travel to the west side. He sees the advantage of
having a pedestrian and bicycle bridge but he is against spending money on a vehicle bridge. He is not in favor of
spending money just because it can be acquired or because it is available.
Helmich said he is a retired civil structural engineer. He is concerned there has not been enough preliminary work
done for the project. He has not heard from staff that they have accurate topography and flood evaluations and have
actually tried them out against some various, possible geometry. Therefore, they cannot speak with certainty with the
length of the bridge that is required. That calls into question, all of their numbers. The priority that was set in 1998 is
difficult to understand. From what he understands, we need a second way to fight fires in Mountain Meadows. If that
is what is necessary, that does not require two traffic lanes and all that goes with it. If you provide for one-way
access, that is a 14 ft. bridge, it is probably longer than 200 ft. He is not sure that building a pedestrian bridge will fit
into $5 million. He strongly urges them to not look at this any further until they have a conceptual design, when 20%
or 25% contingency is met.
Valeri and Greg Williams, 744 Helman St.
Valeri said we have just closed down one street and looking at closing down another street to reduce vehicle
transportation, and then looking at spending over $6 million to increase vehicle transportation, so that does not make
any sense. She thinks the priorities they had back then have changed. To spend that much money on a project that
is going to run through a residential community does not make any sense when the City could be funding other
things. We have roads that need repair, a bridge on Nevada St. that is way under sized, if there is a flood it could be
washed out, and then we do not have transportation from Verde Village. Based upon a study done by OTAC, saying
that the bridges need to have 3,100 CFS clearance, and that bridge does not have that. She recommends that the
commission look at other transportation issues and prioritize. Bicycle/pedestrian path makes sense, but a vehicle
bridge does not. Graf asked if she was referring to the road diet in downtown Ashland (the two lane to three lane) and
the bridge she is referring to is the bridge over Ashland Creek on Nevada St. between Helman and Oak. She said
yes.
Greg said the bridge they are talking about over Ashland Creek washed out in 1974. In 1997 it almost washed out
again and would have if they did not come down with truckloads of rock to save it. It is under-built and poorly
engineered. It is a major arterial and a lot of traffic goes over it taking children to Helman Elementary now. We should
be fixing what is wrong with our infrastructure, not spending more money on a brand new bridge that will cost $6
million. He said the bridge his wife was referring to for the OTAC study, the Hersey St Bridge, it could only handle
500 CFS and the recommendation was to have 1,700 CFS, even though it goes up to 3,100 CFS. The Ashland
Creek Bridge we are talking about was studied by OTAC, but has a similar capacity. He encourages the commission
to look at those things before we start building, in his opinion, ‘a bridge to nowhere’.
Peter Schultz, 375 E. Nevada St. and Ron Cue, 1155 Fern St.
Schutlz said he is not necessarily against it. He thinks it will provide a nice route into town and to exit 19. He agrees
that this will increase traffic. His concern is about flooding. In 2006, there was a flood where Kestrel was under water,
which is within the Ashland flood plain. When the water jumps the banks, the water runs down Kestrel, which will put
the east side access to the bridge under water; this is something engineering should look at when planning. Maybe
the elevation of the bridge could be increased on that side. If that is done, will Kestrel turn into a dead end? The other
concern is by Tom Mar’s house, he lives at the top of the hill when you come right off of Mountain Ave., if you are
heading north towards the freeway on Mountain Ave, first you take a hard left, then an immediate hard right, then
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take another immediate hard left; it is not super conducive to traffic. He does not know if part of the plan is to
straighten that out, but increasing traffic down there, it is a lot of dog legging around. He said there are children out
there with bikes laying in the road and you never know what you will encounter. He loves the idea of increasing
access, but anyone who lives in the neighborhood is going to be concerned about the traffic. It will benefit the people
driving around town and give them a better way to get out and get around.
Cue said he does not live in the immediate area, he lives up the hill, but the reason he came down was to hear more
about the elevation. He did not realize that the information was not available yet. His main comment was that this
meeting’s hearing came just after we learned about the downtown plan going from three lanes to two lanes and his
concern is how we get traffic through downtown. He did enjoy the alternate route on Eagle Mill Rd. out to exit 19. He
has lived here since 1977 and has always wondered why we did not have half an interchange at Mountain Ave. and
I5, a northbound on ramp, and southbound off ramp. This was before the N. Mountain Ave. plan was put in and it
relieves some of the traffic from downtown. His only concern is if we are going to consider this project perhaps we
should consider it in conjunction with what we are doing downtown. He did not see a component about traffic
reduction downtown, if we go from two lanes to three lanes.
Carol Carlson, 509 N. Mountain Ave. and Don Morehouse, 325 Stone Ridge Ave.
Carlson said she has been reading the paper and thinking about the bus levy, which will raise her taxes. She has
been reading that the streets need repairing. The way she lives at home, is you repair what you have before you
have a new idea that you are going to fund. What is most important here? Is it public transportation, maintaining what
we have, or is it something new?
Morehouse said he is in favor of the bridge. He is looking at it from several points of view. Personally, if he is walking,
biking, or driving he wants to get downtown. He wants to get to exit 19 and move around, and have connectivity. He
said everyone else in town wants to move around town in the shortest manner. When we look at the expansion of the
town and the urban growth boundary being developed out, it needs to be connected with the rest of Ashland.
Andrea Napoli, 325 Stone Ridge Ave. and Joann Johns, 979 Camelot Drive
Napoli is in support of the bridge, she wants to be able to ride her bike or walk downtown more easily. Right now, she
drives her car into town because if she rides her bike she must travel up and down in a roundabout way to get into
downtown. The bridge would allow her easier access to downtown by riding her bike. She also supports transit
because it gives freedom to people who do not drive or to people who cannot drive. As far as the traffic, she suggests
some traffic calming measures such as speed humps or chicanes.
Johns said she has the same concerns as her neighbors. She said the cost is a concern, wondering where the
money will come from. The development is a concern for her as well, if this becomes a collector street, what new
developments will happen because of this bridge. How much more traffic will there be, what happens after it comes
into Meadowbrook Park. She cannot imagine 10,000 cars in that area. Many elderly people walk around in this area,
skateboarders, and families. This is a narrow street with no parking on either side of the street. This street would
have to be widened to accommodate more traffic. The cost by the time it is all done will be much higher.
Meadowbrook Park is not built out yet, there is construction still going on and there is no parking requirement there.
She hopes staff will look into what would be developed here because there is not enough room for all of the cars
parked there. A pedestrian bridge is a good idea.
Beth Oehler, 215 E. Nevada St.
She has lived there for 20 years and this is first official notice she has received about this bridge going across, which
is concerning to her. There is no sidewalk on part of the street and the street is narrow. She disagrees that we can
put 3,000-10,000 cars on this street without improvements. It is concerning that; people will avoid Hersey St. and Oak
St. because of the bumps if we do not put traffic calming in addition to this bridge. She agrees with other comments,
that this goes against what we are trying to do as a city. A bike and pedestrian bridge sounds great, but she is
opposed to a vehicle bridge.
Roy Sutton, 989 Golden Aspen
He said he found the various comments coming from the community very interesting and enlightening. He thinks an
option D should be added to support a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. One thing that this commission is interested in,
has to do with parking downtown, he thinks the idea of having the bus route would be a plus to enable people to use
transportation to get to downtown. He would like to see a restricted bridge that allows just pedestrians, bus, and
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emergency vehicles and not open to everyday drivers.
Alberta Apenes, 142 W. Nevada St.
She has lived here since 1975, but first came to Ashland in 1924. Ashland was very small back then and there was
not any streets down by Nevada St. and Oak St. was unpaved. Ashland was the center for where the streets went
through. She has seen it grow and it will keep growing, if it does not it is going to die. We have to face the fact that
people are going to get in their cars and move. She would be unable to get on a bus, she would have to walk a mile
to catch a bus, and she said she could not make it. She is in favor of doing everything we can to make Ashland a
comfortable place for people to live, work, and play. She thinks the bridge will help us, but we are going to fight
anything that goes on, it is normal to do that. She said we have to meet in the middle, but we must move forward.
Graf thanked everyone for their input and said he did not know how quickly they would be able to assimilate
everything they heard this evening.
Young said this project was not hidden and it has been being considered for years. He would like to invite people to
show up to participate in all of the meetings. Many of these things do not get attention until they are in someone’s
backyard. He said people do not participate in any of the decision-making or hearings until this stage and it makes
things more difficult. He does appreciate everyone showing up tonight. In addition, he would like everyone to know
that we do not have the decision to create a bus route, unless we come up with the money to subsidize RVTD. RVTD
came and said they could not make Route 8 happen unless this bridge was put in, but they made it very clear that
this is not their top priority, especially if the levy does not pass. Graf said this does not necessarily preclude that, we
will do some kind of internal circulator and to have an RVTD route here in the near future is unlikely and very unlikely
if the levy does not pass.
Newberry thanked everyone for their participation. She said she has worked in transportation planning for a long time
and she said it is hard to know sometimes, even if you see a notice that says a ’20 year plan’ to know that it is
important enough for you to go, so it is understandable that people come at the last minute. We are going to be doing
a transportation plan update soon though. She said she made a list of things she heard tonight that she did not know
about before.
Graf said we are going to need some cost estimates for the various options including a bridge that allows solely
bike/pedestrian and for a bridge, which only allows bike/pedestrian and emergency vehicle/busses.
Viéville said she wants to know more about the design and how the design of the bridge will affect the houses that
are directly next to it. Graf said the main concern he heard tonight was about what is happening to the streets and the
two ends of the street, so it would be nice to have some clarification pertaining to widening or making improvements.
Bender said it is highly unlikely that RVTD will come through with a route; however, this commission has come out in
favor, repeatedly, of an internal circulator within Ashland. Funding undetermined, but it is a high priority mission.
Faught said he would like to clarify some things. These estimates we have are from an engineer who specializes in
bridges; our estimates include a 20% contingency. We have good information; we just have not fine-tuned it yet. He
said he talked about how many trips a collector street takes, but he did not specify how much this specific road traffic
would increase by. It is now at 1,800 trips per day and would go to 3,800-4,000 trips per day. He said the 10,000
figure is a standard number for collector streets.
Newberry said for clarification, the average home in America even in a small town, generates five trips a day. Which
is actually ten times up and down the street. She said if you were wondering where a lot of the traffic comes from,
you might start thinking about how many times you leave in your car and come back in a day.
Young asked about the OBEC estimate, which is lower than ODOT’s estimate. Faught said when ODOT looked at
this project; they were planning on extending the bridge by another 200 ft. and raising it up, to allow access under the
bridge. Instead, we shifted the bridge 15 ft. to the south so we did not have to do that.
Transportation Commission
April 28, 2016
Page 8 of 9
Faught said the grant has to be used by 2018. Knox said that Kestrel is planned to extend around to N. Mountain
Ave. Trips will probably funnel up Nevada St. and Fair Oaks. Ashland is about connectivity and getting people
around, it is about disbursement, so that not just one street is terrible to live on.
OLD BUSINESS
None.
FOLLOW UP ITEMS
Tolman Creek and Siskiyou Blvd. Stop Sign (5min.)
Fleury spoke to Dan Dorrell at ODOT and requested that they put together a conceptual design for us to review. He
is hoping that Dorrell will be at the next commission meeting to talk about the stop sign, the layout, and intersection
changes.
Downtown Parking and Multi Modal Circulation Study Update-Improvement Projects
Graf said the downtown committee has been reviewing the three lane to two lane plan. He said there was an article
in the paper recently that raised concern, largely from the downtown business community. The concern was mostly in
response to the parking spaces that the newspaper reported as being lost in order to make way for loading zones.
Three parking spaces would be permanently lost if the current design is approved. Another 15 spaces would be lost
during the hours of the loading zones. These would be two-hour parking spaces in front of the downtown businesses.
People were shocked when they read the newspaper article. However, these losses would need to be made whole
again in order for the committee to support the plan. The committee has lost of some of its optimism for a quick
solution, but it has not really changed the plan, which is to go through and look at all of the possible barriers/problems
that need to be addressed to make this work.
Young said he was the only one quoted in the article. He had assumed that someone else had already been
interviewed and then turned the reporter to him. He was very careful of what he said. One quote was accurate and
the rest was somewhat contextualized. He was asked about it failing, he responded by saying one option would be to
do it as pilot program that would take about 18 months, to allow people to change their habits, and then do an
evaluation. The article said that he recommended doing a pilot program, when he did not recommend it. The key was
that he had assumed that someone had told the reporter to talk to him. The response at the last meeting was very
strong. Many of the people that came to the meeting said it was the first time they had even heard about the plan.
Graf said they went through many bike and pedestrian projects and although we did not do the design for downtown,
we as a commission gave a high priority to the bike lanes through town. The projects themselves are in the TSP, but
how to do it is not in the TSP. This commission said these were very high priorities and he is strongly in favor of
making that happen, because if we do not, we will have failed as a committee.
Faught said there is controversy we have to work our way through and if we need more time, then we will take more
time. The information for the multi-modal part got out ahead of time, before we could plan it, which makes it more
difficult.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
Action Summary
Accident Report
Making and Impact Newsletter (April)
Grandview Shared Road Status
Fleury said he met with the consultant engineer to go over the three conceptual designs. He is hoping to have them
back early next week. They are going to meet with a couple of concerned residents and bring the concepts back to
the commission. Faught said he thinks they have come up with the least cost option.
COMMISSION OPEN DISCUSSION
Barth asked if there were any plans to redo the sharrows in the downtown area. Faught said repainting starts in the
middle of May. Fleury said the first place they start is downtown.
Transportation Commission
April 28, 2016
Page 9 of 9
Young said for a future agenda topic; there are so many unmaintained right of ways along Oak St. to downtown.
These properties are hazardous. Faught said we can add that to the agenda and have our street people in to talk
about it.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 8:11 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kyndra Irigoyen
Public Works Administrative Assistant
MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH SUMMARY
MONTH: APRIL, 2016 NO. OF ACCIDENTS: 12
DATE TIME DAY LOCATION NO.
VEH
PED
INV.
BIKE
INV.INJ.DUII CITED PROP
DAM.
HIT/
RUN
CITY
VEH.CAUSE - DRIVER ERROR
5 08:23 Tue Siskiyou Blvd, east of
Wightman 1 N Y Y N N N N N
Driver turning right into parking lot struck
bicyclist traveling in bike lane. Cyclist injured.
Driver not cited/ information exchanged.
7 17:37 Thurs Siskiyou Blvd near Ashland
St 2 N N N U N Y Y N
V1 was backed into while parked in lot. Dv2
could not be located. Hit and Run, minor
damage.
7 20:40 Thurs Tolman Creek Rd north of
Ashland St 1 N N N N N Y N N
Driver of a delivery truck was attempting to
park and backed into a street tree, snapping it
at base. Property damage to City of Ashland
tree. No charges.
8 17:20 Fri N Main St west of Manzanita
St 2 N N N N Y Y N N
Dv2 was waiting behind a car that was waiting
to make a left turn. Dv1 rearended v2. Dv1
cited for following too closely. No injury.
9 13:12 Sat East Main St west of Oak St 3 Y N Y N Y Y N N
Dv3 was stopped at a crosswalk, Dv2 was
stopped behind v3. Dv1 rearended v2,
pushing it into v3. Dv2 and passenger
complained of neck and back pain. Dv1 cited
for following too closely.
11 13:35 Mon Siskiyou Blvd west of Bridge
St 2 Y N Y N Y Y N N
Dv1 stopped behind 2 veh that were waiting
for peds in crosswalk. Dv1 was rearended by
dv2. Dv2 cited for following too closely.
16 15:51 Sat Siskiyou Blvd east of Indiana
St 2 N N N N N N N N
Dv1 was behind v2 in turn lane, stopped at
intersection. Dv1 was distracted momentarily
and rolled into v2. No injury, minor damage,
no citation.
16 17:02 Sat Siskiyou Blvd west of
Mistletoe Rd 1 N N N Y Y N N N Dv1 ran off road into ditch, partially
overturning. DUII, Reckless driving.
24 02:10 Sun Lithia Way east of East Main
St 1 N N N Y Y Y N N
DV ran off road and into a street light. Cited
DUII, criminal mischief2, phone use and MIP.
Non-injury.
26 15:28 Tue Van Ness Av at Laurel St 2 N N N N Y Y N N
Dv2 had stopped and then continued through
controlled intersection when struck in the
passenger side by Dv1. Dv1 cited for failure
to obey traffic control device.
28 15:00 Thurs E Main St at S Pioneer St 2 N N N N Y Y N N
Dv1 was waiting at intersection for light to
change, intending to turn right. Dv2 made a
sudden lane change, running into the left side
of v1. Dv2 cited for unlawful lane change.
29 UNK Fri 400 block of Glenview Dr 1 N N N N Y N N N
Vehicle was found off the side of the road,
resting against a tree. Driver of vehicle was
tracked down through records, and was cited
for careless driving.
Share the Road with Motorcycles
A motorcyclist has the same rights, privileges,
and responsibilities as any other motorist
on the roadway. During Motorcycle Safety
Awareness Month, all drivers of cars, trucks and
buses are reminded to look out for, and share
the road with motorcycle riders.
NHTSA statistics show an increase in
motorcycle fatalities in recent years. Helmet
usage is also on the decline, and alcohol
continues to be a factor in motorcycle fatalities.
To prevent motorcyclist’s deaths and injuries,
use the following safety tips:
For motorcyclists:
• Wear a DOT-compliant helmet and other
protective gear.
• Obey all traffic laws and be properly
licensed.
• Never ride distracted or impaired.
• Use hand and turn signals at every lane
change or turn.
• Wear brightly colored clothes and reflective
tape to increase visibility.
• Ride in the middle of the lane where you
will be more visible to drivers.
• Avoid riding in poor weather conditions.
For drivers:
• Allow the motorcycle the full width of a lane
at all times.
• Always signal when changing lanes or
merging with traffic.
• Check all mirrors and blind spots for
motorcycles before changing lanes
or merging with traffic, especially at
intersections.
• Always allow more follow distance –
three to four seconds – when behind a
motorcycle. This gives them more time to
maneuver or stop in an emergency.
• Never drive distracted or impaired.
• Motorcycle signals are often non-canceling
and could have been forgotten. Always
ensure that the motorcycle is turning before
proceeding.
construction work areas; speed reductions; the
presence of law enforcement; enhanced traffic
control devices and photo radar; and new
approaches to work zone design.
The strategy acknowledges there’s no single
solution appropriate in all cases, but it also calls
out one particular tactic: Whenever practical,
workers should be separated from traffic.
“You can’t get home unless you’re safe,” said
ODOT Director Matt Garrett. “We’re taking
important steps to design work zones so that
everybody gets home.”
M aking I mpactan
May 2016 - Volume 3, Issue 8
Making an Impact..........................................OregonImpact.org........................................................ 1
New Strategy in Workzone Safety
According to ODOT, on average, a work zone
crash happens every 19 hours in Oregon. And
about 7 people die in work zone crashes each
year in this State.
A new goal has been announced
to reach zero fatalities and
injuries in work zones.
To accomplish the goal, project
teams must consider the full range of options
to protect workers in work zones, including
complete separation of traffic lanes from
Making an Impact..........................................OregonImpact.org........................................................ 2
Janelle Lawrence
Executive Director
Contact Us
Funded through a grant from
ODOT Transportation
Safety Division
Subscribe Donate
Preventing Two-Wheeled
Tragedies: The Mistakes We
All Make
In spring and summer, more
people are out bicycling. Bicycle
Safety Month is a perfect time to
renew the committment to
making safe choices on the
road.
Top Mistakes: Bicyclists
• Bicyclist rides out into the
street from a driveway, alley,
or from between parked cars
without stopping or looking
for traffic. Tip: Drivers do not
expect bicyclists to enter the road in
the middle of a block. The driver has
the right-of-way and expects ALL entering
traffic to yield. Look left-right-left before
entering a road.
• Bicyclist turns or swerves
suddenly into the path of a
motorist. Tip: Ride in straight,
predictable lines; look over your shoulder
for traffic; and use hand signals before
changing lane position.
• Bicyclist rides through a stop
sign or red light without stopping.
Tip: Follow the same rules of the road as
motorists. Be prepared to stop quickly.
• Bicyclist rides in the wrong
direction, approaching cars head-on.
Tip: Drivers do not expect traffic to come from
the wrong direction. These crashes can occur
at driveways, intersections, or when drivers
turn right and hit an oncoming bicyclist. Ride
with the flow of traffic, never against it.
• Bicyclist rides while impaired,
which affects the balance,
coordination, focus, and quick
reactions necessary for safe biking.
Tip: Remember that a bicycle is a vehicle. If
you plan to drink, get a safe ride home.
Top Mistakes: Drivers
• Driver turns in front of a bicyclist
traveling on the road or sidewalk,
often at an intersection or driveway.
Tip: Yield to bicyclists as you would motorists
and do not underestimate their speed.
• Driver fails to search surroundings
for other vehicles, including bicycles.
Tip: These crashes can occur in parking
lots, at stop signs, when backing up,
or when parking on the street. Before
accelerating your vehicle, look around for
all road users.
• Driver turns right-on-red
without looking to the right
and behind, hitting a bicyclist
approaching from the right rear.
Tip: Stop completely and look left-right-left
and behind before turning right on red.
• Driver is going too fast for
conditions and hits a bicyclist
who comes into the road
unexpectedly. Tip: Obey the speed
limit, drive defensively, watch for others,
and be prepared to stop.
• Driver overtakes a bicyclist but
doesn’t see them until it is too
late. Factors may include speeding,
inattention, and alcohol on the part of
the driver, and poor visibility or alcohol
on the part of the bicyclist. Tip: Always
do visual scans of the roadway for other
traffic, especially at night.
• Driver passes a bicycle too
closely. Tip: Pass bicyclists as you would
any other vehicle—when it’s safe to move
over into an adjacent lane.
Learn more by reading NHTSA’s
Safety in Numbers - Tips for Safe
Summer Cycling Newsletter.
Safety Fair Season is Here!
Safety fairs are an excellent way to
build partnerships and promote
awareness in your community.
Here are some quick tips to
help you get started: Create a Planning Committee: Designate a Chair
and Co-Chair. Set a timeline and
gather contact info. Select a Theme: What safety topics
will be highlighted? Set the Date: Consider other
important dates; factor in the
weather. Book a Location: Many community
organizations offer free space.
Recruit Volunteers: Consider
asking your local high school for
assistance.
Use Community Resources:
Invite the community and local
businesses to participate.
Solicit education materials
from those unable to attend.
Make a Floor Plan: Include
booths, food areas, and more. Get the Word Out: Distribute
flyers. Post online, in local
bulletins, and on social media. Offer Refreshments and Freebies Measure Your Success: Survey
both volunteers and attendees to
improve upon next year’s event.
Making an Impact..........................................OregonImpact.org........................................................ 3
Speed Limit Increases Cause
33,000 Deaths in 20 Years
A new IIHS study shows that
increases in speed limits over two
decades have cost 33,000 lives in
the U.S. In 2013 alone, the increases
resulted in 1,900 additional deaths,
essentially canceling out the
number of lives saved by frontal
airbags that year.
Maximum speed limits are set
by the states, and they have been
on the rise since the repeal of the
National Maximum Speed Limit in
1995.
Proponents of raising the speed
limit often argue that such
increases simply bring the law in
line with reality, since most drivers
exceed the limit. Once the limit is
raised, however, drivers go even
faster.
Not surprisingly, Institute
researchers found that travel speeds
increased following the repeal of
the National Limit. They also found
that fatalities went up.
The new study looked at the
effect of all speed limit increases
from 1993 to 2013 in 41 states.
Researchers examined deaths per
billion miles traveled by state and
roadway type.
Taking into account other factors
that affected the fatality rate — he
found that each 5 mph increase in
the maximum speed limit resulted in
a 4% increase in fatalities.
The increase on interstates
and freeways, the roads
most affected by state
maximums, was 8%.
Comparing the annual
number of fatalities in the
41 states with the number
that would have been
expected if each state’s
maximum speed limit had
remained unchanged since 1993,
researchers arrived at the estimate
of 33,000 additional fatalities over
the 20-year period. That number
is approximately equal to the
nationwide annual tally of fatalities
during recent years.
As large a number as it is, 33,000 is
likely an underestimate, Farmer says.
In his analysis, he considered only
increases in the maximum speed
limit, which often applies only to
rural interstates, but many states
also increased speed limits on
urban interstates. Other states
increased speed limits on 1 section
of road and later extended the
higher limit to other sections.
Those subsequent changes weren’t
factored in.
The study doesn’t include the
increases of the past 3 years. In
2013, only Texas and Utah had
limits above 75 mph. 5 more have
joined that club since then, and
others have abandoned 65 mph
limits for 70 mph.
Learn more about the study click
here. Stay up-to-date on Traffic
Safety news. Subscribe to the
NETS Newsletter.
Topic Date Time Registration
TREC Workshop: Connected Vehicle Deployment Pilot Study 5/20 12 pm More Info
TREC Workshop/Livestream: MURP Workshop Extravaganza 5/27 12 pm More Info
TREC Workshop/Livestream: Pursuing Vision Zero in Seattle: 6/3 12 pm More Info
Results of a Systematic Safety Analysis
Transportation Safety Workshops
TREC Events UP Highway Safety Workshops OSU Kiewit Center
TREC Workshops are
typically held at PSU.
Grant Opportunity
Applications for ODOT-
TSD’s non-infrastructure Safe
Routes to School (SRTS) grants are
now available for Fiscal Years ‘17,
‘18 and ‘19 (Oct 1 - Sept. 30).
Available funding is being bundled
for a 3-year window in order to allow
applicants advance planning.
This is a competitive call and
applicants may apply for up to
$50,000 per year for up to 3 years.
Awarded grant funding will not
exceed $300,000 per year. There
is a 12% match requirement (88%
Federal funds, 12% local match).
Due date for applications is June
15, 2016. See full details here.
Child Passenger Safety
Basic Awareness Course
Safe Kids has developed a toolkit
for educators to use to expand road
safety efforts in their communities
and to build new partners to keep
kids safe.
The Basic Car Seat Awareness
Course was designed to serve as
an introduction to car
seats and as a way to
start conversations
about restraint use
in cars where road
safety has become more
important.
Although it was
developed for
use outside the
United States,
it is useful
for advocates
working in U.S.
communities
where English is a second language
and where there is low seat belt and
child restraint use.
The materials were designed to be
used by presenters with varying
levels of experience in road safety
as way to guide a discussion about
child passenger safety.
The materials have been translated
into simple Chinese (Mandarin)
Date City Location Address Time
5/13 Sisters Sisters/Camp Sherman Fire 301 S Elm St 2:30 - 4:30 pm
5/14 Hillsboro Tuality Health Edu Ctr 334 SE 8th St 9 am - 11:30 am
5/21 Vancouver* Peace Health* 92nd Ave Entrance 8:45 am - 2 pm*
5/21 Wood Village Kohl’s 22557 NE Park Ln 9 am - 11:30 am
5/26 Forest Grove Forest Grove Fire 1919 Ash St 3 pm - 5 pm
5/26 Eugene Eugene Fire 1725 W 2nd Ave 4 pm - 6 pm
5/28 Lebanon Lebanon Fire 1050 W Oak St 10 am - 2 pm
6/2 Redmond Redmond Fire 341 NW Dogwood Ave 11 am - 2 pm
6/2 Island City La Grande Rural Fire 10200 S McAlister Rd 2 pm - 4 pm
Click It or Ticket - A Second
Chance: May Campaign
Statistics show that passenger vehicle
occupants are buckling up more during
the day, but not enough at night.
The latest data shows that 1,280 injuries
and deaths occured in Oregon in 2014.
NHTSA’s Nationwide Seat Belt
Enforcement Mobilization campaign is
created for Law Enforcement to crack
down on violators 24-7, but a strong
enforcement effort is urged overnight
due to the significant number of
violators and fatal crashes during this
time.
Corresponding education materials
are meant to help get the message
out at a community level. Packaged
social media messages for Twitter and
Facebook, along with posters and web
videos make it easy to spread the word
in different venues.
In addition, the following demographic-
specific materials are now available:
Hispanic Toolkit
African-American Toolkit
Making an Impact..........................................OregonImpact.org........................................................ 4
and Spanish.
The toolkit includes pre/post-
tests, presentation notes, an
evaluation, and a certificate of
participation for attendees by
completing the Basic Awareness
Course Request Form to access
these materials.
The PowerPoint
presentation
includes slides and
leader notes, videos,
suggested activities
and discussion
starters.
This Basic
Awareness
Course is a great
tool for reaching
out into your
community with basic
information that you
can supplement with letting
people know about your
organization and efforts to make
a difference through car seat
check-up events and inspection
stations.
Read more about the Course.
Did You Know?
May is Transportation Safety
Awareness Month in Oregon.
Learn more.
Events are tentative due to weather.
For all event listings, appointment options, best practice information, visit the Child Safety Seat Resource Center.
Car Seat Check-Up Events and Fitting Stations
*Peace Health Event: Registration required by 8:45 am for 9-10 am class. First come, first served. Must attend class to participate in the clinic, which is held from 10 am - 2 pm.
1
Kyndra Irigoyen
From:Kyndra Irigoyen
Sent:Thursday, May 19, 2016 2:10 PM
To:Kyndra Irigoyen
Subject:RE: Hillview Drive
From: Keith and Sheila [mailto:theeggandi@jeffnet.org]
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 8:59 PM
To: Scott Fleury
Subject: Hillview Drive
Members of the Transportation Commission –
I am a 23 year resident of 873 Hillview Drive. In 1999 or 2000, the city conducted a traffic count and speed
study on Hillview Drive. As a result and following two meetings with the Traffic Safety Commission, two "25
SPEED" signs were posted. Several of us neighbors posed in front of one of the signs, and our photo and story
were on the front page of the Daily Tidings.
Since then, the volume of traffic appears to have significantly increased, and it often exceeds the speed
limit, something that’s obvious just from visual observation. My neighbors and I realize that there is more
traffic everywhere. However, we believe Hillview has become an arterial for homes on Crestview, as well as
Harmony Lane and Beswick, and the new homes built way up the hill, accessible from upper Park Street.
We respectfully request that new traffic counts and a new speed study be conducted on Hillview and, if the
studies show what we believe they will, that additional traffic calming measures be taken. We further ask that
a discussion of our request be placed the May 26 or June 23 Transportation Commission agenda.
We are aware that a major traffic generator, Our Lady of the Mountain Church, is on Hillview. What we’re
seeing, however, is not just Sunday traffic for church services. It's every day. We believe this increase in
traffic is generated by traffic from Ashland street that comes up Normal to Siskiyou, and then up Hillview, en
route to Beswick, Harmony, upper Park, Crestview, and above.
It happens thusly: After exiting I‐5, drivers come to Tolman Creek (by Les Schwab). They could turn left on
Tolman and head up to Siskiyou, but the left turn signal lasts long enough for maybe three vehicles to
turn. They soon realize that the path of least resistance is to continue north on Ashland street, then turn left
up Normal Street. Normal has a left turn lane, so that's where the traffic turns.
When they get up to Siskiyou, it's a jog right, then a quick left turn up Hillview. Hillview is wide and
straight, the sight‐distance visibility is excellent and drivers respond to these conditions by accelerating to
speeds that far exceed the posted limit. They go up to the top, or maybe turn right at Ross Lane, and head
over to Harmony Lane. They also turn right or left at Peachy, which allows them to go to Beswick, or over to
Walker and up Pinecrest. Why wouldn't a driver that wants to go to upper Walker or Pinecrest go straight up
Walker from Ashland Street? Because it requires going through two traffic lights. The quick way is up
Hillview. It's the path of least resistance. And why go up Hillview if they're going to Beswick? Because coming
up Normal and taking a left on Siskiyou to get to Beswick takes a lot of waiting. It's quick to make a right, then
left up Hillview. My neighbors and I have seen cars that we know live on Harmony and Beswick, coming up
Hillview.
Eventually people figure this stuff out. And a lot of people have figured this out. Again, we request an
updated traffic count with speed study for Hillview. We believe the same should be done for Beswick and
Park for comparison purposes.
2
Thank you for your attention to this. Please know that those of us who live on Hillview consider this to be
an urgent matter and as such we ask that you do not delay scheduling this for a Transportation Commission
discussion.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if the Commission or staff have any questions.
Keith Kleinedler
873 Hillview
541‐488‐3352
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S. Kurth <skurth2002@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 25, 2016 at 3:50 PM
Subject: Thursday discussion on the Nevada Street Bridge
To: "jlgtrans15@gmail.com" <jlgtrans15@gmail.com>
Joe,
I have attended some of the meetings, and I found you to open and logical. So I am
surprised that Thursday night's
agenda shows "bridge design options." I had assumed you were listening to local comments
and would then decide
if the bridge was the right thing to do for the community and what type of bridge. If you
are considering bridge options, it sounds like you have made up your mind. And the bridge
is a "done deal"? And the commissioners really do not care about local opinions.
I oppose a vehicle bridge; a foot bridge is acceptable. Unfortunately, I have a commitment
to be out of town so I cannot attend, and I cannot change these plans. But I believe there
will be others in opposition attending. I hope I am wrong and you and the other
commissioners have not made up your minds.
Could you please comment on where you see the issue is? Thank you. I know you are busy
but this is
major to some of us.
...Sue Kurth
650 279-0575 (cell)
1 | P a g e
Mike Faught
City of Ashland
Public Works Director
20 E. Main Street
Ashland, Oregon 97520
faughtm@ashland.or.us
Re: Citizens Against Unnecessary Spending on East Nevada (CAUSE)
Ted Hall is a registered professional engineer who’s spent 45 years in the
transportation industry. He has been involved in the design and management
of over 20 Billion dollars in transportation projects during his career, the latest
being the 11.5 Billion Bay Area Seismic Retrofit Program in the San Francisco
area, which included a new 6.5 Billion dollar new San Francisco/Oakland Bay
Bridge east span. He currently works for the engineering firm Mott Macdonald
with offices in Portland and around the world.
Dear Mr. Faught,
This letter is in reference to the “options” of the East Nevada Bridge Project.
First, the options shown all provide vehicle access across Bear Creek into East Nevada, which is
a neighborhood street. A true list of options would have included non-vehicular access
alternatives. When planning street layout and traffic calming features, cities try to prevent the
cut through of neighborhood streets. In this current plan, the opposite seems to be underway.
Figure #1 on the following page, shows the traffic flow “square” that straddles Bear Creek. The
arrows show entrance and exit points to the four corners of the traffic square that provide this
segment of a local neighborhood street access in all directions. One gets in or out of this traffic
square either by Eagle Mill Rd. from Oak St. Eagle Mill Rd. from Mountain Ave. or Hersey Blvd.
via Oak St. or Mountain Ave. Notice one does not enter or leave this traffic square by way of
East Nevada. East Nevada does not figure in the access in or out of this area of Ashland. An
expensive bridge on a neighborhood street is not justified and would provide no change in
access. The proposed East Nevada Bridge, for vehicles, would be a land-locked proverbial
“Bridge to Nowhere” and would create a neighborhood cut-through problem.
Increasing safe pedestrian/bike paths in neighborhoods is an improvement. Providing
increased vehicular traffic into neighborhoods is not. Example: High quality-of-life
neighborhoods around the country look for opportunities to eliminate cut-throughs. They
employ cul-de-sacs, block streets so cars can’t travel through, making it safer for neighborhood
residents, their children and animals. This is what provides the high quality of life in these
neighborhoods.
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-To I-5
-To Mountain Ave.
To I-5
. - To E. Ashland
To Fire/Life Safety
To East Ashland
To Central Ashland. -To Hospital
- N.B. or S.B. I-5
- Medford
-To Central Ashland
-Lithia Plaza
-To Fire/Life Safety
-To East Main Street
-To Ashland Ave
-To NB or SB I-5
-To Fire/Life Safety
-To I-5
-To Central
Ashland
-To East
Ashland
-To Fire/Life
Safety
-To NB/SB I-5
-To Medford
-To West/Central
Ashland
Figure 1 – Traffic Square – East Nevada Traffic Envelope
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The bridge would serve as a “cut-through” to one of the four corners of the traffic square
shown in Figure #1. Cut-throughs allow people from one residential neighborhood to cut
through another residential neighborhood to a point they already have access to, with a
perceived savings in trip time, though there isn’t any actual trip-time savings.
Cities normally spend local dollars to eliminate cut-throughs. In this case, the city of Ashland is
proposing to create one.
Let’s examine reasons that benefits the common good that might justify an expense of local
dollars in this specific case. Usually those reasons would be, fire/life safety access, traffic
mitigation, or increased necessary access.
Fire life safety: The west side of Bear Creek, the traffic square provides fire/life safety access.
Direct access up Oak and Mountain Ave. to Hersey to the Hospital is already in place. In
addition, fire stations and paramedics on Hersey would choose either Oak St. or Mountain Ave.
as their preferred route of choice. Likewise, police vehicles from the station on East Main
would either go down Mountain Ave. or Oak St., depending on the address they need to reach.
The above traffic square reality is presented here so that the next statement has a technically
based context:
Spending taxpayer dollars for a neighborhood “cut thru” scenario/option is universally bad
policy everywhere in situations like this even if there is a derived compelling benefit. In the
case of this East Nevada segment it makes no sense because there is no derived benefit. There
is additionally no rationale for endangering and inconveniencing tranquil neighborhoods for the
many location specific reasons detailed below. When eminent domain or public funds are used
to build public access, there has to be a compelling benefit for the common good of the vast
majority of the residents. In this case, because of the traffic square reality, there is absolutely
no benefit or justification for building an expensive bridge for vehicular traffic in the middle of a
local neighborhood street.
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Figure 2 - Dog Leg Turns
Figure 3 - Narrow Roads
Reasons why local neighborhoods would be impacted:
There are some severe dog-leg turns on the east side of Bear Creek making it unrealistic
to have through traffic. There would have to be additional dollars spent to straighten
the roads, which will involve the taking of land.
There is parking on one side of the road on the east side of East Nevada. The roads will
have to be widened or will take all street parking away.
Many of the westbound vehicles introduced onto East Nevada will cut through Helman
St. and Laurel St. to get to Hersey St. and Main St.
Adding bridge piers in the creek could create choke points to water flow that could
eventually lead to flooding and unnecessary maintenance costs.
Bridges cause attractive nuisances (i.e. homeless searching for shelter).
Just because you have a grant, doesn’t mean you need to spend it unnecessarily.
Spend the money on a bicycle/pedestrian bridge on East Nevada - and for vehicles, build on-
ramps and off-ramps to and from I-5 at the overpass of North Mountain Ave. as described in
the next section.
Dog-leg turns
Narrow streets and
parking on only one side.
Where will people park?
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Project Alternative That makes sense for the majority of Ashland residents as well as visitors
to Ashland:
Let’s examine an alternative that would benefit the majority of the residents of Ashland and its
visitors.
Traffic on Main St. is currently forced to cut through downtown to get to either freeway access
points north or south of Ashland. We could spend money on a project that would benefit
Ashland and reduce traffic flowing through town. That project would be to put a tight diamond
interchange at the southeast corner of the transportation box diagram in Figure #4. A bridge
replacement of the Mountain Ave. overcrossing of I-5 and placement there of a tight diamond
interchange with on-ramps and off-ramps to I-5 at that location would drain much of the
present downtown cut-through traffic that is forced to go through central Ashland to get to I-5.
Figure 4 - On-Ramp Alternatives
An interchange at Mountain Ave. (see Figure 4) would be a tremendous benefit to the city of
Ashland, its residents, and visitors. Those vehicle trips from south to central Ashland wanting
to go to Medford would no longer have to use Lithia Way and West Main St. Those vehicle trips
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originating in central and West Ashland wanting to access southeast Ashland would no longer
have to use Main, East Main and Ashland Ave. The Mountain Ave. on-ramps and off-ramps
would drain much of central Ashland’s traffic. Please take into consideration the alternative
presented. We can’t accept spending tax payer’s money on a bridge project that has no
benefit. It would endanger those living near the creek, would expose residents and children to
unnecessary traffic, and would take land from those living on East Nevada Street.
Sincerely,
Ted S. Hall, PE - for the Citizens Against Unnecessary Spending on East Nevada (CAUSE)
Ted.hall@mottmac.com
408.839.3230
Attachments
Figures 5 & 6
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Figure 5 -Possible Tight Diamond Interchange at North Mountain Ave. and I-5
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Figure 6 - Zoomed in Google Earth Pic of Figure 5