Section Three: Risk Assessment <br />18"', and 29th Avenues, 28th and South A Streets and Mohawk Blvd. While these transportation <br />routes are usually adequate for the volume of traffic they carry, periods of rush hour congestion <br />significantly slow traffic, including emergency response, along these and other peripheral routes. <br />Within the rural areas served by the department, limited road networks, varying contours of <br />terrain, private bridges unable to bear the weight of fire apparatus, and long, narrow, winding <br />private driveways further impede response. <br />While both cities openly encourage connectivity and the department provides regular input <br />supporting projects that enhance emergency response, several factors that slow or obstruct <br />emergency vehicle response are beyond the department's control. As the cities become <br />increasingly developed and densely populated, more people and vehicles compete for space on <br />aging streets. In an effort to keep neighborhoods safe and livable, residents are demanding street <br />designs that slow traffic and/or transfer it to other streets. Any design that slows the flow of <br />nonnal traffic will have a similar impact on emergency response. Department personnel work <br />regularly with Traffic Engineering and Transportation staff from both cities to develop <br />compromise solutions that seek a balance between safe neighborhood streets and adequate <br />emergency vehicle access. However, it is inevitable that the trend toward more traffic calming <br />devices will result in further increases in emergency response times. <br />In the early 1980s andI990s, Eugene and Springfield began implementation of a citywide traffic <br />signal pre-emption system designed to allow a fire, rescue, or EMS vehicle to request and <br />receive a green light as it approaches a controlled intersection while on an emergency response. <br />At a considerable investment by the cities, all traffic signals in the metro service area are now <br />equipped with this system, and all emergency response vehicles are equipped with the <br />appropriate signal emitters. While this system enhances the ability to respond to emergencies <br />faster and with greater safety, its benefit is being gradually reduced by the regular addition of <br />new traffic calming designs such as narrow streets and roundabouts throughout the metro area. <br />Development <br />Several public and private construction projects are in progress in downtown Eugene. These <br />include a new downtown campus for Lane Community College, located across from the <br />Downtown Eugene Public Library. The project incorporates five floors of student housing along <br />with a 90,000 square foot education building. Other major downtown projects include <br />reconstruction of the Broadway Commerce Center at Broadway and Willamette Streets and the <br />Woolworth office building constructed on an adjacent site. New downtown hotel <br />accommodations are provided by the Inn at 5th Street Market, which was completed in 2012. <br />Population Growth <br />The 2013 population estimate for the City of Eugene is 159,5801. This reflects an annual average <br />increase of 1.13% between 2000 and 2013. In 1970, the population within the city limits was <br />69% of the total population in the Eugene Urban Growth Boundary. By 2010, this figure had <br />increased to 88%. In 1990, 5.8% of all persons residing in the River Road/Santa Clara area lived <br />271 <br />