H E t~ <br />March 1. 2017 <br />have a house on E. 31St Ave., between Hilyard St and Ferry St. As things stand now, <br />it's almost impossible to make a left hand turn onto Hilyard St from E. 31St Ave. during <br />rush hours in the morning and evening. It's difficult even during other times of the day. <br />I don't even try to make a left. It's too dangerous, and takes too long. Instead, I drive all <br />the way up 31St and turn right onto Willamette St in order to go into downtown Eugene. <br />I believe if 100 apartments and several retail stores are built on Hilyard St between 31st <br />and 32nd Avenues, it will cause a currently difficult situation to become a traffic <br />nightmare. 100 apartments can result in 150 cars, because many families have 2 <br />vehicles. Add to that, the traffic from the retail stores, who will have customers coming <br />and going for 9 or 10 hours each day, and you can see how this area will have traffic <br />gridlock. There's a light at 30th and Hilyard that causes traffic to back up now, but with <br />that much more traffic, E. 31St Avenue will become a major thoroughfare for vehicles <br />trying to reach downtown Eugene. They will do what I do: they'll drive up 31St Ave to <br />Willamette. Our quiet, residential street of 1-family homes will become the easiest and <br />fastest way for people to get to downtown Eugene. It will result in constant traffic on my <br />street, and will also result in more traffic on Willamette St. heading north. I'm very <br />concerned that my quiet residential street will become a major thoroughfare for access <br />to downtown. <br />Another issue is safety: there is a bicycle crossing on E 31St Ave., very close to the <br />intersection with Hilyard St. The chances of a pedestrian or bicyclist getting hit by a <br />vehicle at this crossing will be greatly increased with the increase in vehicular traffic <br />caused by this development. <br />/71 <br />