River Road/Santa Clara Urban Services Committees Final Report and Recommendations

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'~~~i'~~ ~JoR TxE~s WE NEED A PLAN FOR THE AREA by Mara YYile The River Road Santa Clara Urban Facilities Plan was adopted by Lane County and Eugene in the mid-1980s. Much has changed since then and the current plan does not reflect the wants and needs of the residents. The River Road area and some portions of the Santa Clara area were developed in a semi- rural development pattern with larger lots, narrow tree-lined streets and rural drainage systems. This pattern of development was preserved and worked well until recently. The advent of a central sewer system has dramatically changed this development pattern. In the River Road area, recent in-fill development, conforming to city zoning standards allowing higher density, has not fit with this historic development pattern. Traffic and congestion in the area has grown significantly. In the intervening 15 years, River Road, Maxwell, and, Irving roads have been improved by Lane County. River Road has gone from atwo-lane ~ rural highway to a five-lane arterial. The River RoadBelt Line interchange, which is also the commer- ' cial heart of the area, is a major traffic congestion point during the day. And, in order to facilitate higher density, residents are very concerned that many of their beautiful tree-lined collector streets will be "improved" with broad paving, sidewalks, and the loss of the trees that help define the character of the area. i Many of the new developments do not fit the existing neighborhood character. It is not difficult to find a manufactured home placed directly in front of or beside a turn of the century historic home. There are many streets with half of a street improved and some with a piece of sidewalk here and there and curb- ~ l less rural style portions in-between. And, TransPlan has designated that three nodal development sites in River Road Santa Clara be established. An overall plan is necessary in order to figure out where and how to implement these nodes and to outline how to incorporate them with existing character/infrastruc- ture. Loss of character aside, increasing density in already developed areas necessitates more or different ~ 1 infrastructure, which has not been planned for with existing characteristics in mind. Many areas in River Road and the southern part of Santa Clara were developed and planned as low-density single family homes, originally defined at a maximum of four houses per acre. Current land use code allows up to 14 homes per acre. A majority of local streets and collectors are not capable of handling any more traffic than they were originally designed for. And, given the added traffic and lack of flexibility of street design, providing bike paths and safe walking areas is certainly a planning challenge. Addition- - ally, long narrow local streets (many that are dead ends) don't lend well to street connectivity standards. Current street connectivity standards are based on a maximum block length of 600 feet, many local streets in River Road Santa Clara are at least twice that length. i 13