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.
It’s ugly. Signage is poor, especially traveling west regarding left turns. It’s pedestrian unfriendly.
I feel Franklin Blvd functions perfectly fine. There are multiple lanes which keeps congestion down. Plenty of pedestrian paths and safe crossing locations. Bus island for those who commute by bus to safely and efficiently travel. My engagement with planned changes for Franklin has been that I attended a city event where I learned about the proposed design changes that are coming. I must say, whoever designed this doesn’t spend much time in the area. The amount of round-a-bouts is asinine. The round-a-bout that is furthest east is completely unnecessary. I believe this design is only going to create a less safe, more congested Franklin Blvd.. ESPECIALLY during events at Matt Knight Arena. I genuinely believe the City needs to revisit the design of Franklin because what is proposed is bad for the area and is going to be loathed by residents of the city.
I support the idea of improving this road
None. Leave it alone.
It would be great if Franklin Boulevard had dedicated bike lanes so I felt more comfortable biking or having my teenagers bike. I commute from South Eugene to Downtown Springfield, so this would make my commute safer.
From being a gravel road to a major thorough fare it has seen some changes over the years, none recently. Some of the pavement going east, left lane needs attention. Sharing with bikes and mopeds is probably needed. The EMX seems to be working well on Franklin. Safety is good I believe. I have not seen many cars speeding on this road, there are some, generally feel safe.
Franklin is unsafe for bicycles and scooters. Bus access is good, but the pedestrian access doesn’t feel safe or enjoyable. The sidewalks must be awful for people with wheelchairs or other devices. Franklin is also very unattractive, and is one of the first roads that some visitors see. This stroad is poorly designed and doesn’t serve our community.
What a mess! Given how close it is to the University and the amount of student housing that is on the north side of Franklin, as well as the lack of parking at the University and the Matt Knight forcing people to park across Franklin and then play “Frogger” to walk where they are going, it is surprising there aren’t more car-on-human deaths along it. Getting across on a bike to the River Path is also challenging and dangerous. Finally, if you are driving westbound, you will be doing at least 50 mph before going onto Franklin by Walnut, and there is no engineering to change people’s mindsets to the new speed environment – so they try to go 45 or more through to Agate. It would be great if there were a separated bike lane that went at least from 11th to Augusta. It shouldn’t be like the current 13th St bikeway – it needs to actually be a useful and pleasant way for bicyclists and scooterpeople to get through this area (no stopping at every intersection!), and it needs to allow easy and safe ways to for people to get across Franklin Street so they can access either the River Path or the University.
I am interested mainly in changes to make Franklin safer for bicycles
Congested and fast. Need to slow things down and allow for more pedestrian traffic
The pavement on the East end of Franklin Blv. has very uneven surfaces. The crossing distance is *very* long making it hard to cross the street in a timely and safe manner. There are currently few trees on the East end of the street making it very hot to walk alongside the street. Due to the width of the street many people speed while driving.
Like it or not, Franklin is an important arterial street. It’s highway and traffic needs to move.
Need to have a way to turn left to Market of Choice when driving west. Don’t use roundabouts. They are confusing when there is a lot of traffic.
The pedestrian crosswalk near Patterson seems to be a recipe for disaster. I don’t know what can be done about it.
I don’t think changing Franklin is going to help. Eugene has outgrown its infrastructure.
needs safety passages for pedestrians — who at times run across in front of traffic
Lane narrowing going east near orchard
Circles are not my favorite, prefer lights.. Don’t know statistics on accidents. Seems with pedestrian/ bike traffic, circles would be more dangerous and distracting for drivers with pedestrians. Also add the bus to the complexity. Not to mention the road rage we are experiencing these days in Eugene.
Roundabouts make absolutely no sense!
Franklin Blvd is the really the entrance to Glenwood, so changes need to contemplate the development of that area to keep traffic moving efficiently while allowing for easy biking to Glenwood. Currently, Garden Way, 13th, 15th and North and South Bank trails provide really good bike access to everywhere you want to go on Franklin or into Glenwood/Springfield, and helps separate the traffic. Trying to combine the bike and traffic streams onto one road will just make it worse for all forms of travel, particularly if you disrupt those areas. The plan I’ve seen looks like it will create more congestion, which from experience downtown encourages bikes to weave through cars and peds, and peds to simply cross wherever they feel like it. It would be nice to have one additional crosswalk where 13th ends at Franklin (at the crossing light there).
Drivers don’t respect the flashing red light crosswalk near Patterson. The intersection of Franklin & Agate is suuuper dangerous. I work at UO and cross this many times a week and there are always near-accidents with pedestrians. Specifically drivers who are on Riverfront Pkwy southbound, turning right onto Franklin. The pedestrians need more protected crossing. Now that UO is utilizing the Millrace garage as main parking lot for staff and visitors, it is very busy from 8-9 and 4-5. Lastly, the speed limit should be slower. Many times when walking eastbound near Wild Goat Restaurant area, cars fly down Franklin and I have been splashed with a huge waterfall from the car driving by.
It’s not very attractive and seems very hectic.
I would love to see a way for it to be easier to cross the intersections on Franklin. the lights are just long enough for pedestrians to cross, but there is no additional time for cars to continue turning.
I live on Sylvan and walk/ride along Franklin almost daily. The speed of vehicles as they leave eug to enter southbound i5/enter Springfield is alarming. The lack of bike lanes in both directions on Franklin is challenging for our commute. The lack of lighting near the eastern end approaching Sylvan is difficult at night. We often walk the much longer route up through Hendricks park to avoid the speeding vehicles and loud noise along Franklin between Sylvan and walnut.
The pedestrian light right before Patterson(technically I think this might be Broadway and not Franklin) is cumbersome and leads to more traffic. I agree for the need for pedestrian protection but there has to be a better way