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.
I do not think it is justified to spend the amount proffered for just some kind of EmX fixups.
Spending millions of dollars on Franklin Boulevard is completely unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Even if much of the funding comes from the federal government, that still must ultimately be paid — either through direct taxation (i.e. raising taxes) or the indirect taxation of inflation — which hurts the lower and middle classes the most. The current federal deficit is $32 trillion and rising rapidly, threatening the economic health of our country. Also, traffic circles are unsafe, despite claims to the contrary. I have come close to getting sideswiped several times in the crazy new traffic circles recently built in the Glenwood section of Franklin Blvd. All in all, this strikes me as another government boondoggle designed to benefit bureaucrats and their cronies in private business. Please don’t make these proposed changes.
I believe the planned changes are a financial waste of money and a monumental disaster. Reducing the travel lanes make no sense whatsoever unless your agenda is to make it difficult for drivers in effort to get them out of their cars, which will not work. I have been personally driving this route since 1967 and know it as well as anyone and what I see is a series of things designed to slow traffic. The idea or reversing one of the west bound lanes from I-5 will result in head-on collisions unless a guard rail is installed to separate the lanes and the lane is totally unwarranted especially given the plan for the round about at Orchard. Contrary to stated plans, this is not a neighborhood and never will be. Outside of I-105, Franklin Blvd is the primary route of travel between Eugene and Springfield and is a State highway and all of your wishing will not change that. Eugene sadly has a long history of making grossly bad decisions in traffic flow, i.e. the downtown mall, 18th and Willamette, Crest Drive, E. 19th with the bump-outs, E 13th, etc. A suggestion of the strongest kind, before you solidify any plans that involve changing roadways in any manner, including speed bumps, talk with and listen to emergency services personnel including police, fire and ambulance to find out how your plans will effect their ability to serve the public. We have many streets that need repair and the money being planned for something that is not needed once again shows the City’s propensity to put preference of agenda over what is best for the public.
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.
This is a major artery between eugene and Springfield. Please don’t make it impossible for cars to use. This city is eliminating lanes and making driving more cumbersome, but as noted above, this city is not designed to be car-free. When I lived in Chicago, I used public transportation almost exclusively. This just isn’t that sort of city.
It’s too crammed with building already. Stop building!
I’m not happy that the city is planning to use so many roundabouts to control traffic.
Traffic volume/congestion during event days is a big deal. Throngs of people crossing to and from parking is unsafe due to not obeying the pedestrian signals and 6+ lanes. It is unclear how are these issues going to be addressed by the mission statement.
The public engagement process has felt like box checking and is myopic in not extending further to the west. While I’m a fan of roundabouts, I’m not sure it is the most effective solution at each of the intersections as proposed to enable safe and efficient movement north-south, particularly given the large volume of pedestrians.
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.