Record of Decision New Federal Courthouse

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Record of Decision Attachment C -Agency Comment and Responses Additional Traffic Analysis -Inca Engineers 2.2-Inca Engineers received information from the city of Eugene and the University of Oregon in regard to the traffic variations during the fall term and the summer term of the University of Oregon. Inca has adjusted the traffic counts taken in June of 2000, after the close of the spring semester, to include traffic from the college when the college is in session. Inca used a conservative approach in using the largest percentage increase in the two roadway locations reviewed and included a percentage increase for the general student population increase. Inca has reviewed the Oregon number of pedestrians crossing oR-99win °ra« to gee to the Furth°°sc. Hi hwa Plan //OHP as re ueSted g y l ) , fl impact can be expected at several intersections on OR-99W. Responding to ~ pedeatrian:satety issues is appropriate mitigation for a courthouse at the by ODOT. The threshold volume Preferred n• to capacity (v/c) ratio of .85 was 3. oiegon manages its state highway system using we policies arts scanaaras deteririined with the assistance of adoptea March Is, 1999 as-pant of the 1999 Oregon Hi¢hwav Plan (OHP). This plan.establishes standards to maintain acceptable levels of mobility oa ODOT by determining the the orate highway system. The. standards are used ror piannea and/or hi hwa Cate o and the land use g y g ry Z'4 existing ~°~'ti~• The Ets sttoula have addressed these stanaards on ODOT-managed facilities. The operations analysis accomplished during type. Three mteISeChOnS WeIe aevdopment of the D1i53 used an analysis technique that is not acceptable h bli h identified to be on state operated s es t e der the Oregon Highway System.- The Oregon Highway Plan esta method and aPP c° be taken. The. aepartment coca not aeceprwe highways, Broadway & OR 99 delay method of analysis as appropriate for ttris purpose. (Ferry St overpass), OR 99 4. The planning analysis for the proposed courthouse uses 2003 as the (Broadway) & Patterson and , pianningh°riZ°° r°r'~n5p°`tati.°n analysis. D~"°'°pir'g th° f°a~ral courthouse on land now zoned for industrial use and containing land uses OR99 (Broadway) & Hilyard. All z•s with substantially aiu'«ent diaraoteriatics alt°°]d 1>e treated as a maj°r change. The planninghorizon should consider the transportation impacts the mterSechOriS are Slgnallzed for a period.beyond the day of opening. The planning horizon should be except OR 99 (Broadway) & extenaea to 20 is f°r tranap°rtati°n analysis. Patterson which is stop sign controlled on the minor street. Inca has completed analysis on these intersections using software provided by ODOT to analyze the .two signalized intersections (SigCap) and the Highway Capacity Software (HCS) to analyze the one unsignalized intersection as recommended by ODOT. Inca Engineers also reviewed, as requested by ODOT, a horizon year of 2018. Inca used an annual growth factor of 1.23%, as identified by the Lane County Council of Governments, for this downtown Eugene area to upgrade the 2000 traffic counts (adjusted for college traffic) to the year 2018. As shown in Table 1 below, the result of Inca's analysis (increased volume for college trips and increasing the horizon year to 2018) are that all of the intersections operate at a v/c ratio at or below .85, or 85% of capacity. • New Federal Courthouse FEIS Page 2 1: The documentation does not establish when the June 2000 traffic volume information was collected. Activities at the University of Oregon have substantial impacts to Traffic volumes and.travel patterns, but traffic counts z.z acquires doting the summer recess would show markedly tli6'erent volumes than notmally experienced. Analysis of highway mobility and safety amditions. is dependent upon such information. It is not clear from the intotmation provided whether any seasonal: adjustments were used to address this factor. 2: The Traffic Impact Analysis states that "tlte overall traffic safety at all intersections except 8~ Avenue/High Street is relatively good (DEIS Appendix B, page 20)." ODOT does not agree with this conclusion. According to the State of Oregon's Crash Database, three intersections with OR-99PJ is the immediate vicinityof the preferred alternative location (Eugene.sife 2Al are among the worst ten percent of all crash locations on the Oregon highway system. Between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1999, 69 accidents occurred, including 37 injuries and 1 fatality. -Over 80% were; angle, tumirig and rear-end acddents, indicating substantial problems 2.3 at intersections.and driveways. The fatality involved a pedestrian. These ' facts contradict the statement in the FEIS that "mitigation measures are not required (page 136).' Rather,.these conditions indicate that mitigation of the - siting dedsion'ia appropriate and should be provided for both vehicle and-- pcdestnaa safety. reasons. As proposed, developing the preferred alternative location relies upon use of otf--site public parking available in downtown Eugene. This will increase the All of the intersections meet ODOT standards, using conservative measures and without consideration of mitigation measures such as the Traffic Demand Management program suggested in the EIS. The two software programs recommended for analysis by the State use different methods to obtain level of service ratings. SigCap' uses strictly volume to obtain level of service ratings and HCS uses a delay measurement to obtain level of service ratings. Inca has presented the v/c ratio, as this would make for a better comparison when identifying whether or not the intersections meet the OHP standards. 1 Outlined in the TRB Circular 212 "Interim Materials on Highway Capacity", 1980 '_ !',