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Stewart Road Closure <br />May 10, 1999 <br />Page 9 <br />closure was that the cut through traffic had not decreased, and had resulted in one <br />`• accident on the private property. <br />Again, because the City made its decision prior to a hearing, the evidence <br />gathered at the hearing does not entirely support the City's decision. Here, however, the <br />problem is not an error of categorical exclusion of evidence, it is a matter of degree. The <br />City concluded that cut-through traffic should decline and therefore gave it less <br />significance. The fact that it did not decline as quickly as the City expected does not <br />mean that the City will eventually prove to be wrong. It does, however, mean that the <br />City did not give the appropriate weight to this particular aspect of the total decision. <br />5.055(b) Standards, limitations, and rules promulgated by the Oregon <br />Transportation Commission or the Oregon Public Utility Commission or their <br />successors. <br />There do riot appear to be any standards that apply. <br />5.055(c) Other recognized traffic control standards. <br />No other traffic control standards appear to apply to the problem presented by <br />Stewart Road. <br />5.055(d) The city's adopted transportation-related plans and policies. <br />There are no adopted transportation related plans or policies that bear on the <br />decision to close Stewart Road. The draft Eugene street plan identifies Stewart Road as a <br />~' collector street, but until that plan is adopted, it has no relevance to a decision concerning <br />Stewart Road. The draft Eugene Springfield Transportation System Plan bicycle element <br />calls for bicycle access by way of bike lanes or as a bicycle rout. As an unadopted plan <br />this has no bearing on the decision. <br />The prior decision mistakenly stated that the designation of Stewart Road as a <br />collector street was already in effect. The unadopted character of the plans was not made <br />clear in the previous evidence. Until the plans are adopted they are advisory only and <br />cannot be considered as a part of the criteria listed in Eugene Code section 5.055. <br />There are other City adopted transportation-related policies that affect <br />consideration of solutions to Stewart Road. Eugene Code chapter 7, especially section <br />7.160, governs the initiation of public improvement projects. If Stewart Road is to be <br />improved it will be by means of the local improvement project initiation processes in <br />section 7.160. A proposed improvement such as Stewart Road improvements would be <br />can be initiated in three ways: by the petition of a property owner, by the City Council, or <br />by the City Engineer when the property owners of property that would bear more than <br />half the estimated assessment for the improvement are not opposed. None of these <br />conditions apply. Therefore, under the present circumstances, the improvements that <br />would be necessary to bring Stewart Road up to acceptable standards cannot be initiated. <br />This is not, however, a permanent impediment. Indeed, the closure of Stewart <br />Road was labeled "temporary" because it was contemplated that eventually such <br />improvements would be initiated. The local improvement policies, including the policies <br />concerning initiation of improvements, do not direct that streets that are not scheduled for <br />