What the public thinks of Franklin Boulevard today

Franklin Blvd is asked to do a lot, but wasn’t designed to do what it’s being asked to do. It is the primary means of traveling to and from events at the UofO and it is limited by the capacity of the adjacent streets to handle the traffic loads. Some restrictions on traffic flow have been implemented in the past that have made it safer for cars and EmX, but it is not a bike or pedestrian-friendly area. I hadn’t heard of the planned changes but am happy to hear that it’s being looked at. I only visit the area when traveling to and from a business in the area. If I were to attend an event in the area, I would consider a park and ride option on EmX, or shared ride such as a taxi or Uber.

Today, Franklin Blvd is defined almost entirely by its value to car drivers. Drivers come from downtown or 11th St and are trying to get to Springfield or the highway as fast as possible; or they are going to other way and trying to get past the University as fast as possible. this leads to congestion and people going drastically different speeds. In addition, parking for the University or the Matt Knight is generally on the north side of the road but people are trying to get to the south side of the road, and there aren’t many crossings. I find myself often trying to get onto the river path behind the Dutch Bros riding my bike, but the pavement is broken up, cars are driving crazy in the west-bound lanes and into the Dutch Bros line, and there generally are tents or yelling people blocking access. Finally, there was a pedestrian path that came off of 15th near Fairmount that is the logical place to walk or run if you are coming from Hendricks Park and going onto the river path, but there is no pedestrian crossing there, so frequently people run across the car lanes where folks are driving 40+ mph. There’s some good things, too. I like the landscaping around the Emx, and the area down towards Onyx St is really starting to look cool. The mural at Agate & Franklin is fabulous, and I have hope for Agate St north of Franklin when the construction is done.

Not bike friendly, lots of UO congestion

It would be nice to have more options for walking and biking without feeling like I could be hit by a car. As a driver, I often experience bikes and pedestrians walking out in front of my because of limited options for them. The lack of crosswalks makes it so pedestrians and bikes often jaywalk, especially in the dark when there are events on campus, and the lack of bike paths discourages my use of the businesses along Franklin.

I am all for making Franklin safer for the community. I worry, being a homeowner on Moss street. The University has encroached, and made life miserable many days of the year. I hope there is not increased traffic down my street or parking. It’s a double edge, sword, putting lots of resources towards college students, when they have no investment in the neighborhood.

U of O and MKA events turn it into a parking lot.

On a day-to-day basis as a commuter, Franklin is ok. But on events days at MKA or elsewhere on campus, Franklin doesn’t seem designed to handle that kind of traffic from vehicles, pedestrians and bikes.

As the Franklin area expands more, there are changes that need to be made that need made. I agree with Mr. Hiron in speaking out of “no roundabouts!! People are definitely not programed in Oregon for roundabouts Too many businesses & UofO events going on in such a short span of road. Speed is a factor in most often incidents, people hurry & don’t pay enough attention as it is!!!

I know you are trying to make safe but it is still a major road through town and traffic is already crazy especially when students back or sporting events. Cutting down on car lanes seems like it will make traffic worse.

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.

Franklin boulevard is way too crowded, especially during game days, concerts, students and more.

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.

Franklin Boulevard is acceptable if one is traveling via EMX and just okay by car, but is a nightmare for any other means. Traffic speeds are not enforced and it is not uncommon that I am passed by cars going 45-50 in the posted 35mph zones. The sidewalks are far too close to the streets with no buffer, forcing bicycles to ride on the sidewalk with pedestrians. In addition, there are apparently no regulations governing the “ride share” scooters that can currently be found dumped all over town; even though they have the potential to go much faster than a bicycle, the undergrads who use them frequently ride on sidewalks as well, adding to the congestion. Franklin could use a reduction in the number of car lanes; a dedicated two-way bike/scooter lane, better sidewalks, roundabouts to mitigate the flow of traffic, and pedestrian overpasses so that crossing the boulevard doesn’t feel like one is taking their life into their own hands. Events at the Matthew Knight Arena are an additional nightmare, thanks to the UO’s getting by without having to provide parking for events and offloading the burden of parking and traffic management to the surrounding neighborhoods (where I lived until May of this year). The Franklin/Villard intersection is a nightmare on event days, between the traffic and tour buses/touring semi trucks/etc. impeding traffic; I have many times been stuck behind a row of Uber/Lyft vehicles that have decided to simply pull over in the right turn lane on Franklin (approaching Villard from the west) to drop off passengers for especially large events.

Since they built Matthew knight arena, it seems too congested; difficult to get into P, C MARKET Of Choice , or Hirons; dangerous for pedestrians or bicyclists. Maybe we need more walkways overhead or underground methods of travel for bicyclists, pedestrians, people on skateboards, people on assistive devices The speed limit needs to be slower!!

Franklin Blvd is a major travel corridor for Matt Knight, UO Campus, from I-5 etc. The current set up handles heavy traffic well and provides wide sidewalks for pedestrians/cyclists. Reducing traffic flow and overall speed to mainly favor pedestrians would be a major issue for this community. Eugene has a vision zero plan but there are other ways to achieve this like making a bike/pedestrian corridor a 1-2 blocks in from Franklin on 15th Ave for example and linking the bike/peds to existing bike paths through campus and like Alder etc. Your vision of everyone walking or riding is not compatible with Eugene weather or the demographics of an aging population with health issues that preclude them from walking or cycling. Idling cars, lost time and loss of use of high traffic corridors in favor of cutting through to quiet neighborhood side street sthat are less hassle fro drivers ie WAZE and other work arounds when traffic is made unbearable buy poor city planning. A dream is only as good as it’s dreamer. I would hope the BEST would be smart and not saddle Eugene with one more difficult and sometimes impassable corridor like Willamette near 29th or on Roosevelt on 24th Ave between Hilyard and Amazon Pkwy.

I try to avoid shopping or driving in the area. It’s too congested and feels unsafe. Friends living near the university complain loudly about the 5 or so round-abouts they’ll have to deal with. They feel it will make it difficult to shop at Market of Choice, Hirons and WholeFoods. I must agree. I’ll stay away but I wonder how emergency vehicles will manage. Forget about going near Matthew Knight Arena if there is an event.

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.

Leave it alone! It works fine just the way it is, and the plans I have seen for changing it do NOT make sense. I believe the proposed changes will cause MORE congestion, not less – especially on days when there are special events at Matthew Knight Arena, Hayward Field, the University (i.e., Move In Day)… even home football games. (And there are, at my count, almost 90 such days a year – one in four!) A total waste of millions of dollars!