LHVC.net

More details as soon as I get them.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006 10:40 PM

Plans for a new interchange off of I-5 near Glenwood appear to be on hold, at best.

Springfield Mayor Sid Lieken says the Oregon Department of Transportation has basically taken the interchange off the table.

Last year, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith helped secure $400,000 to study the interchange.

Now the city of Springfield needs to find out if that money can be used for something else at Glenwood.

“There is a current interchange there in Glenwood now, and we could look at possibly making improvements on that,” said Mayor Lieken.

Lieken also says that ODOT told him it has too many other big projects to continue studying the I-5 interchange.

A memo comparing future interchange build/no-build scenarios has been posted to this site’s document library. It is from a very preliminary analysis conducted by ODOT’s contractor Kittelson & Associates. A very big “thank you” to Mr. Boyatt at ODOT for responding so quickly to my inquiry and providing me with a copy of the memo.

Excerpted from Mr. Boyatt’s email response to my inquiry:

Please understand that the first look at the concept of a new interchange on I-5 at Franklin was a high level analysis designed to inform local and state decision makers about whether and how to proceed on this effort. As such there is no detailed traffic analysis specific to travel patterns and neighborhood impacts. This level of analysis would occur at a refinement planning level where specific alternatives were proposed, refined and evaluated. Were the project to move forward to the NEPA documentation phase (likely an Environmental Impact Statement under National Environmental Policy Act requirements), this impacts assessment would likely be even further refined.

That said, ODOT’s contractor (Kittleson and Associates) did perform a link analysis using the metro area’s horizon year (2025) travel demand model to get a sense of how future projected trips would reroute if direct connections - primarily to and from the north, since connections to and from the south already exist at Franklin and folks do use the existing Glenwood interchange to loop back around to make the northerly moves today - to I-5 were available at Franklin. Understanding that it is a high level assessment, there are several findings in the attached report which you can read for yourself. Primarily, folks would reroute of local streets and lower order highways in the area to use Franklin and I-5 to access I-105/OR126 for east-west freeway trips, and Beltline Highway further to the north for the same purpose. The full impacts to to directional flows on Franklin or neighborhood cut through traffic are not known at this level of analysis.

Editable rich text version for anyone who wants to modify.

PDF version for easy portability and quick printing or electronic distribution.

Lane Council of Governments September ‘05 Meeting Minutes Originally downloaded from LCOG.org

Document Directory is located here.

I have added a section to the site called “Letters/Opinion Pieces.” With initial entries graciously provided by Darcy Vanderlan and David Sonnichsen (thanks guys!) If you are aware of an item (pro or con) that should be included here, please send it in and I will post it promptly. Thank you.

FAQ updated to reflect the completion of the ODOT/CH2M comment period (based on information provided by Rich Hazel and David Sonnichsen.) Please note that the Mayors and City Councils will continue to accept community input up to the date of their respective meetings.

Rich Hazel emailed with info on the relevant Springfield City Council meeting date:

Springfield City Council has scheduled their February 27 work session to receive the presentation from CH2M and ODOT.  That’s a 5:30pm meeting, and the matter is third on the agenda. 

That is, of course, subject to change.

The date of the Eugene City Council meeting at which ODOT’s findings will be presented has been changed from February 13th to February 15th at noon. The FAQ has been updated accordingly.

Also from ODOT’s FTP site.

• Cost & Constructability Issues Breakdown by Concept 
• Visual Map of specific neighborhood impact points
• Potential Environmental Impacts
• Stakeholder and Policy Issues
• Traffic & Circulation Benefits
• Traffic Issues

All of the below were originally obtained from the Oregon Department of Transportation’s FTP site.

• “Category 1″  Full Interchange at Franklin Boulevard
• “Category 2″  Partial Interchange at Franklin Boulevard
• “Category 3″  Split Interchange (Franklin-Glenwood)
• “Category 4″  Full Interchange at Glenwood Blvd.