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:.~,-.: ~ PARKS AND OPEN SPACE PLANNING PARK OPERATIONS ' URBAN FORESTRY To: Kurt Corey From: Johnny Medlin CC: Neil Bjorklund, Emily Proudfoot, Mark Schoening Subject: West Eugene EmX Extension Project A DIVISION OF PUBIIC WORKS 1820 ROOSEVELT BLVD. EUGENE, OREGON 9140Z (541) 682•4800 FAX (541) 682•4882 WWW. EUfiENE-0R.fiOV/PARKS NATURAL RESOURCES In January 2007, the Lane Transit District (LTD) Board of Directors and the Eugene City~Council agreed to pursue the West 11~h corridor as the next bus rapid transit priority corridor: In the past few months, LTD has developed a number of alternative routes for the West Eugene EmX Extension. It was recently brought to POS staff's attention that one of the proposed routes is along the north bank of Amazon Creek between Garfield and West 11th near Bertelsen Street. LTD is presenting~this Arnazon Creek route as a viable option, since widening West 11 `h Avenue to provide dedicated lanes for the EmX is projected to be very expensive due to the need to acquire land and businesses on both sides of the road. In addition, the West 11 ~h Avenue route would have to be carefully planned out in order to not exacerbate already existing traffic congestion issues. From a transportation and economic perspective, LTD is presenting the Amazon Creek EmX route as a more feasible alternative than West 11 ~h Avenue. The purpose of this memo is to bring this issue to your attention and to let you know about our concerns about locating the West Eugene EmX adjacent to Amazon Creek. From a;natural resource perspective, we have the following concerns: The Metro Waterways planning process, a multi-million dollar project that has been ongoing since 2002 and has involved a number of agencies, has identified a preferred alternative for this reach of Amazon Creek that includes extensive channel widening and riparian enhancement work. The location of the EmX on the north bank of Amazon Creek has the potential to severely restrict our ability to implement these types of improvement projects. The section of Amazon Creek between GarField Street and Bailey Hill Road already has some significant bank erosion and stability issues. Any kind of transportation or other structural facilities that are built along Amazon Creek would need to be built in such a way as to not cause further bank failure (and potential flooding issues). The expansive nature of the soil along that entire stretch could mean that soil would have to be removed and replaced with material that would not fail under those circumstances. This is a cost and impact that the transportation folks will need to take into account. Between Garfield Street and West 11`h Avenue, Amazon Creek is protected by the /WP Waterside Protection Overlay Zone, Sections 9.4700-9.4760 of the Eugene Code. As part of the implementation of the state-sanctioned West Eugene Wetlands Plan, a 60 foot setback from top of bank is applied to both sides of Amazon Creek to protect the waterway. The applicable code provisions allow construction of certain public improvements within the setback area only with prior Site Review approval, based on consistency with specified criteria, and only if the public improvement is specified in an adopted plan (EC 9.4730(3)(c)). The Site Review criteria for approval of