1999 Eugene Arterial & Collector Street Plan

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Criteria Used to Determine Street Classifications The determination of the appropriate classification for each street in a city requires a process that examines the relative role each street plays as part of the entire system. Because it is not possible to measure directly the proportion of "mobility" and "access" that each street segment provides, the process involves an evaluation of several important criteria that correlate strongly with those primary attributes of mobility and access. These criteria have been adapted from national guidelines, to be applicable to Eugene in terms of our community's. size, geographic form, and certain transportation- related characteristics such as ahigher-than-average use of non-auto modes of travel. The five criteria used for determining street classifi- cation are described as follows: Average Daily Traffic (ADT). Generally speaking, the higher the volume is, the higher the demand is for use of that street. On streets with higher traffic volumes, the demand for traffic mobility is more likely to outweigh the need for access to abutting land. Conversely, where volumes are lower the access function of the street will generally be more important than mobility for traffic. On arterial streets with commercial land use, such as West 11th Avenue, the land access function of the street is still very important. However, since considerable through traffic (i.e. traffic not stopping at a destination along the street, but continuing to a destination elsewhere) uses West 11th, the proportion of traffic using the street for local access is relatively smal I com- pared to a local street or a collector. Figure 4 shows the typical ranges of traffic volumes that correspond to various classifications. These volumes do not in themselves define or deter- mine the classification; additional criteria described below are also taken into account. auto modes, including walking, bicycling, and transit use. The number of modes of travel using a street is telling of a street's importance in the city's network; the more modes using a street, the more users that street serves, and the more important that street is to the movement of people, goods, and services throughout the city. In the staff analysis, the presence of sidewalks for pedestrians, bicycle lanes, and/or the pres- ence of transit service was considered one important factor in evaluating the appropriate classification for each street. • • i- Figure 4 Street Average Classification Daily Traffic Major Arterials -~~~~~~~~~~~~- i ~----~- 20,000 ADT and Up Minor Arterials i 7,500 to 20,000 ADT Major Collector ~-- i ~ i 2,500 to 7,500 ADT Neighborhood i Collector 1,500 to 2,500 ADT Local Streets --~ ~ i Less than 1500 ADT i Use by non-auto modes of travel. The ADT criterion described above provides an easily- obtained measure of the number of vehicles using a given street. While ADT is an important. , yardstick, another very significant feature of Eugene's streets is the accommodation of non- 34 _ _ _._