What the public thinks of Franklin Boulevard today

BEST asked: How safe, practical, and attractive is Franklin Boulevard adjacent to the University of Oregon for everyone today?

Here is what they wrote. The comments have been categorized by some topics that were frequently raised.

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Do not put in roundabouts. Not the solution for safer pedestrians, and will cause increased pollution from idling vehicles.

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Franklin is auto-centric while other forms of transportation are secondary. Crossing Franklin can definitely be a challenge at times for pedestrians. While most of my trips down Franklin are by car and without issue, making the street into something that’s more friendly to other forms of transportation seems like a good idea.

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I think roundabouts do work to improve traffic flow. More could be done to improve attractiveness, especially the Glenwood sections.

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It is a horrible street considering all the pedestrians who try to cross it, which will only increase as they build more apartments north of it.

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Needs to improved for cars. Vast majority of people that travel on Franklin use cars so they should be prioritized over alternate methods of transportation. Don’t punish those who use cars to travel with ridiculous changes.

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Not nearly enough lighting making walking, biking, or any other use of the sidewalk feel very unsafe. Barely enough light to drive safely.

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Roundabouts won’t make it any safer!! People will still drive unsafely & speed.

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Lowering the speed limit will only make matters worse. We will cause a lot of traffic congestion, increasing the chance of collisions. A good way to help pedestrian safety would be a bridge walkway over the street. Also, it would be nice to enforce traffic rules on bicycles. Too many bikes ignore stop signs and red lights, and many weave into traffic lanes with zero regard to cars.

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It seems like a lot of the cars are just trying to go through not to the college. Perhaps a lane without a lot of turn lanes/merging/lights to get from Glenwood to Downtown Eugene would help.

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This entire plan is overkill, propagated by narrow minded bureaucrats who will likely have moved on by the time the project is completed. Games and events at the Matt and Hayward indeed impact traffic, but that can be remedied by police directing traffic. This is not a good location for roundabouts.

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It is a main road for cars. Other modes of transportation use it as well. But if you pretend that it won’t be a major road like it is now, all you will do is cause traffic. Balance with other modes is key but let’s not pretend that it doesn’t rain most of the year and people drive when it is raining. Summer is when most people bike places. Don’t change the roads away from car use for bike use part of the year.

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Have to be very careful when driving to be sure not to hit anyone.

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Improvements needed for people walking or riding bikes. Rules needed for electric bikes and other motorized vehicles such as skateboards.

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Round abouts are more dangerous.

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It’s a main thoroughfare so it’s going to be busy. Enforcing a speed limit would be great. Roundabouts – don’t do it. Look at European ideas on how to satisfy car, bus, pedestrian needs.

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Scooter users behaviors cause dangerous conditions

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Folks living in the street near Hirons Market of Choice made walking or biking in that area very dangerous plus lots of garbage. Cars drive very fast

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No multi-lane roundabouts please….they are so confusing and scary to drive through. Single lane roundabouts are better, if we have to have one at all.

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I think it can be more accommodating to bikes but driving into work seems fine.

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The EMX lanes need to be removed and relocated to the right lanes to support better movement of traffic and busses. OR install a much better people mover system like a light rail or regional train service to support the Eugene/Springfield/UO areas to remove cars and busses from the roads.

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Constant jaywalking

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With more students living north of Franklin today than there was 20 years ago, and with the Matthew Knight Arena drawing more visitors, I feel like a footbridge over Franklin Blvd would come in handy. When I walk on the sidewalk in front of Market of Choice the speeding cars are just inches away. One distracted driver hopping the curb there could be fatal to walkers. We do need a safer pedestrian corridor on Franklin. Also needed is a safer way to gain access to the river bike trail that leads to the Knickerbocker Bridge. Crossing with a bike at Villard or Orchard St is unnerving, especially with smaller kids who also like to bike. Cars start speeding up to highway speeds at about Franklin and Orchard.