Franklin Boulevard Study - City of Springfield

FRANKLIN BOULEVARD STUDY CONCEPT DESIGN REPORT
City Council also directed the project team to continue studying a three-lane enhanced
arterial concept for McVey Boulevard. They also directed the team to continue considering
a roundabout option and signalized option at the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and the
McVey Highway.
Concepts set-aside at design workshop
The alignments shown below were set aside during the design workshop.
The “blue” concept would have encroached on the Greenway and reduced development
potential near the Willamette River.
The “green” concept would have required expensive relocations of major facilities such
as the Lane Transit District headquarters.
The “brown” concept would have required development on four frontages of the
Franklin/14 th couplet to create an activated district and would have reduced traffic flow
on Franklin Boulevard creating a less attractive retail environment.
The “red” concept would have impacted residential areas and would have created a
bypass that would compete with Franklin Boulevard for retail development.
Comments from Stakeholder Advisory Committee members and the general public
supported the team’s recommendation to set these concepts aside.
Concept evaluation and narrowing
The project team then evaluated the nine concepts against the agreed-upon criteria. Some
criteria or criteria categories were not used in this process as they did not help differentiate
between concepts. The detailed concept evaluation matrix is attached to this report.
The criteria that best differentiated between alternatives included:
Minimize project costs
Minimize right-of-way acquisition
Minimize impacts to businesses and residences
Minimize impacts to private property
There were some trade-offs between the multiway boulevard and arterial options. The
multiway boulevard options all created a better pedestrian environment than arterial
options because sidewalks were adjacent to low-traffic roadways. The multiway boulevard
options also separated local and regional traffic better than arterial options. The arterial
options typically had lower project costs (excluding right-of-way) than the multiway
boulevard options.
The 14 th Street alignment option would be more difficult to construct in phases than either
of the existing alignment options. The existing alignment widened to both the north and
south had more impacts to businesses and private property than the existing alignment
widened south concept.
3 6/19/2009
CH2M HILL