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 think signage could be a bit better as well as issues with the busses
Worst street in Eugene by far. I wish I could bike on it, and I wish that the EmX was less bumpy/unpleasant. Needs more trees, slower cars, bike lanes, better bus lanes. If there are roundabouts, they should have a cutout for EmX to go straight through. If the bus had to go around a big roundabout with a constant sharp turn, I would never ride it again.
Franklin is wayyyyy to high capacity for a city like Eugene. As someone who comes from the Bay Area, Eugene NEVER has traffic problems. The main issue I have with driving in Eugene is the one ways and complicated road systems make it super comfusing to get around in. Going downtown from campus requires some very weird lane changes and the gps apps don’t seem to understand how it works. Going down Franklin east of campus runs you into a weird double round about that is very confusing and it shows because people keep stopping and it’s kind of terrifying to merge into the second one unless there is zero traffic there. Biking Franklin feels like a non option unless you go to the beautiful river trail or walk along the mill race which still requires some scary Franklin-ing. Walking Franklin is best avoided, I mostly stay on the inside of campus, but would love to have more of an excuse to walk along the tree canopied millrace path… unfortunately it’s usually not worth the discomfort associated with getting to that path. Crossing franklin sucks period. If you want to makes Franklin work, crossing franklin needs to be addressed. The one flashing red light for the cross walk to the 7/11 is an accident waiting to happen. I’ve had to break hard more than once because no one can see if the walker is done crossing or if they should stop yielding. Just make it a firm red light when people are crossing. The EmX system is probably the best part of Franklin. I wish it was easier to cross to that middle platform because it sucks to miss a bus because the walk sign hadn’t gone on yet.
Franklin Blvd has very little car traffic 90% of the time, and it caters to the worst car congestion scenarios. I find myself waiting for a walk sign with no cars in the way. The bus route is nice and flows easily, but i wish it came more often.