Appeal Materials - Laserfiche WebLink

roadways, and the congestion, and the ten blind curves that must be experienced in order to be understood. Similarly, it is not simply the traffic counts (as the Hearings Official acknowledges, expert opinions may differ), but rather the related issue is the congestion produced on the existing, old, non-standard roadways,"which is mostly without sidewalks. There is congestion for all the different users of the pri mary travelway: pedestrians, bicyclists, personal vehicles, service and delivery trucks, and emergency responders. There are people walking dogs, or pushing baby carriages; children walking to and from school; people walking on the wrong side of the road - and becoming a hazard since they are not visible to drivers coming around blind curves. Some Eugene Public Works staff dismiss evidence of impacts of roadway restrictions and elevations from valley floor to the proposed site. Instead they rely on "queuing" traffic, or passive traffic calming, or "self-regulating conditions," which Hearings Official accepts (DHO, pp. 49-50). The Hearings Official quotes (apparently without irony) the statement of a City engineer (Gillespie) who stated: "From an Engineering operations and safety perspective, there is no difference between an 18-foot-wide road and a 20-foot-wide road" (DHO, p. 58). But Hearings Official concludes: "the review does not provide engineering evidence that the street system is not functioning adequately" (DHO, p. 59). However, residents, and anyone who can subtract, should know the difference. Spring Boulevard and Capital Drive are from 18 to 19 feet wide. Residents and visitors alike face the frequent situation on Spring Boulevard and Capital Drive where two vehicles are approaching blind curves from opposite directions. Additionally, there may be an adult or child, walking or biking. It's a death-defying moment, especially if the vehicle going up hill attempts to pass that walker or biker without knowing that the downhill vehicle, approaching out of view, is exceeding the 15 mph posted limit, or even at that limit. Or consider how, on an 18-foot roadway, a walker or biker could easily be hit by extended 1 foot mirrors on a 10-foot-wide oversized vehicle which is passing a five- or six-foot vehicle. It is not just the numerical data, such as volume of traffic or number of peak hour trips, that is important here; rather, it is the actual encounters of vehicle traffic with other users of the roadway - motorized or not - where there are no sidewalks, where one lane may be blocked by parked cars, delivery vehicles, or service vehicles. Service vehicles, especially landscapers and construction workers, must continue to park along Spring Boulevard. and Capital Drive where there is no space to pull off- regardless of whether the roads are posted for no parking - because they have no alternative for conducting their business at those locations. Crucially, the Hearings Official ignores discussion and evidence from Eugene Springfield Fire that describe significant, dangerous conditions existing in the area and leading to the development site. In a Response letter from the Fire Marshal's Office (March 27, 2017), Deputy Fire Marshal Mark Dahl detailed a number of concerns, such as: "significant delays" including "opposing traffic," "collisions," "construction vehicles related to residential housing," (Item 2, p. 2); inability to turn around and "need to back up long distances (greater than 150 ft)" (Item 4, p. 2). He concluded: "Given the severely restricted access to the area, in all likelihood the truck company would not be able to physically drive to the scene" (p. 4) of an emergency above the 31