What the public thinks of Franklin Boulevard today

The crosswalk with the red light that changes to a blinking red light by Broadway and Franklin is not safe. I see people try to cross without the light, I see one lane stop and the other not stop. People, often students whip down from Ferry St. bridge and drive to fast or try to merge around that light. Now with the new apartments there will be more congestion without parking. I try to avoid that area at all costs. Clearly the apartment buildings success is the main priority and not safe travel along Franklin.

From attending 5 city open houses and neighborhood presentations I have questioned and learned a lot about the Franklin Boulevard Project. It is excellent. Finally, Franklin Blvd will be safe to cross, bikeable and walkable. EmX service will vastly improve. Students and seniors will be much safer and better able to navigate the neighborhood.

Franklin Blvd is very busy and often I’ve seen drivers run red lights when pedestrians are crossing the street. There are potholes in the crosswalk which makes it very dangerous for pedestrians, especially folks with any type of physical disability. The crosswalk time isn’t long enough for anyone with a disability or alter-ability to cross in a timely way.

Some of the turning lanes on Franklin are confusing, even as someone who is familiar with the area. I accidentally turned into the wrong lane from Franklin onto Villard the other day (luckily other drivers saw me error and gave me room to correct it!) I don’t love having to turn left/make U turns to access business on either side. I appreciate that the EMX runs along Franklin, when I have taken it before (I did moreso in the past when I lived near a place that was on the route) I found it convenient for accessing the UO and Downtown. As a pedestrian, Franklin just feels exhausting to me–loud and full of traffic and I feel like I have to be extra vigilant at crosswalks because of all the different turn lanes/vehicles/etc.

There is so much potential for this space to be special for the residents of Eugene and the students of the University of Oregon! Please don’t shy away from making it TRULY pedestrian centric. We need protected bike lanes, roundabouts, quality pedestrian crossings, many more trees and green spaces, etc. Thanks for doing this work!!

It is difficult to come from the 5th street to get to the other bike lanes on high street and 13th. Or over towards downtown. I find between 10th/7th and high to be the most dangerous. I end up biking on the sidewalk, taking the alleys and cutting over through the Whole Foods Parking lot. Crossing broadway there is difficult and dangerous, you cross into a alley/parking lot towards the emx station. Then it’s sort of a dead end unless your clever like me and bike through more parking lots.

Auto and pedestrian crashes are a serious issue. Pedestrian connectivity along corridor is a problem. Bike system is mainly non-existent. Need more frequent EmX including double tract. Safer pedestrian and bike crossings. Make Franklin better for all users.

I recently tried to ride my bike from South Eugene to an event out in Glenwood. I had to cross the highway where it divides, with no crosswalk or light. I had to walk across a bridge on a narrow sidewalk next to fast traffic. And then I had to repeat that to return. I know there is a bike path on the other side, but couldn’t figure out how to access it from the south side of town. Also, it doesn’t go as far as I needed.

I occasionally have to cross Franklin Boulevard to get to Urban Farm from main campus and would rank it as one of the most dangerous streets I have to be a bike on in the city. I currently would never consider biking directly on that road next to cars despite it being a direct route to my apartment in down town.

I travel on Franklin Blvd almost every day. I wish that there were more places where individuals could cross the street with the temporary crosswalks/flashing lights.

Large gaps between crossings encourages pedestrians to cross in unsafe locations – especially for UO events. No bike lanes means bikes accessing businesses on north side of Franklin have to share sidewalks with pedestrians.

The number of crosswalks at intersections should be increased, I believe there’s one particular intersection where pedestrians can only cross on the east side – that’s very confusing!

Traffic light at Franklin and Agate Street has way, WAY, too much green time for non-existent eastbound car traffic. I have missed so darn many EmX’s here that I have begun to treat the “don’t walk” sign more like a stop sign or a yield sign than a light while on foot and trying to catch EmX. I am sick and tired of being legally obligated to yield right of way to a bunch of thin air! So I’ve started ignoring the don’t walk sign as long as there’s no traffic and I’m only going to the Agate transit platform island.

Too wide with too many car lanes for the amount of traffic. Because it’s so wide, crosswalk cycles are long, so red lights take forever and makes the car traffic seem much worse than it is.

People try to run across Franklin to MKA every event! Every time something is going on at MKA, people unsafely always run across Franklin!

Walking across Franklin near Villard is far from optimal.

Franklin is a mess, and doesn’t work particularly well for anyone. Its especially difficult riding a bike with a child. I’ve had more than one close call crossing on a bike by the EmX stop near Walnut. Cars turn onto Franklin regardless of the pedestrian walk sign.

Improving this major road with roundabouts. Seems like a no-brainer that should’ve been done along time ago. There are other gaps in the system such as the little connector to the bike path on the far east side, both on the north and south side they also need to be addressed. Crossing Franklin by foot is a big pain since they have the lights time to favor traffic and not walkers.

Weird division of the street between Franklin and the other street which makes it hard to bike from one side to the other.

Drivers can go very fast and there isn’t always close walkways or paths for bikers, depending on which part of Franklin. I’ve been hit trying to cross the road on Franklin in 2009.

Pedestrian crossing at intersection is unpleasant. Crossing on bike has confusing and dangerous right of way

It would be wonderful to feel safe crossing such a busy and wide road on foot. It would also be nice when driving if the roadway was simpler (less merging) .

People love to race across the street to catch buses (it’s me!). I feel like it would be helpful to have more lighting on Franklin especially around bus stops.

It feels like a barrier within Eugene, there is one side of Franklin and then the other. I would never live on the river side of Franklin for uncomfortability being close to Franklin. It feels like bikers are an afterthought, and I find myself navigating unsafe conditions anytime I try to bike over there. (I will say the one spot that feels good to bike is biking on Agate and passing through Franklin over to the river). I dont know how to get involved.

Due to the sidewalks being immediately next to drivers, especially eastbound, it regularly feels unsafe to walk there. Pedestrians need a safety bumper so that bad drivers won’t hurt them. Also, The agate/franklin intersection is just awful for everyone involved. It is long, regardless if you’re a pedestrian, biker, driver, or on a bus, With the 2 turn left lanes going west from agate, I can tell you that due to unclear lines on the pavement that there have been minor car accidents due to someone either cutting the turn or going wide. Same thing goes for Villard/Franklin. cars regularly improperly yield, in part due to there not being enough clarity between who is proceeding to the other side of villard vs turning. As someone who has utilized pretty much all modes of transportation, and being a previous resident, I can tell you that I absolutely hated walking down Franklin–from 13th to walnut, down either side of the road. make it safer for pedestrians, please.