Minto Bridge in Flood - Will we See the Path Covered?

This is now mainly trivia, but during planning and construction for the Minto Bridge, it seemed important. The City never really made it very clear when high water would actually close the bridge or even submerge it. They talked about making the bridge deck itself above the "100 year level" - something like the 1964 flood, with the river at about 38 feet - but the path system itself is considerably lower than that 100 year event elevation, and the City never discussed in public when high water might cover the path.

But with the river now projected to rise to about 27 feet - edging towards 2012 levels, but many feet short of 1996 or 1964 - we may get to see the path covered.

"Closed"? What does that mean?!
(yesterday evening)

Since we've been talking about the bridge, it's become clear that enough parts of Minto Park take on water when the river is at about 20 feet, the City closes the park.

• "The Proposed Minto Bridge in Floodtime" (2012)
• "Flooded Minto Bridge and Path Route Surveyed" (2012)
• "The Minto Bridge would have Closed this Weekend" (2014)
• "So What about the Minto Bridge in High Water?" (2015)

This week we are going to crest near 27 feet. Minto Park has been closed for a few days. Some of the lower paths near or across slough-ish areas inside that park are already submerged and have been for a while.

Around 24 feet on Tuesday, cresting near 26 feet
But it's been updated to nearer 27 feet for tomorrow
 - via NOAA

For comparison, the 2012 flood was a little over 29 feet. At the time, the City swore that the path would not have been covered, but this seems unlikely and false.

We may get to find out!

The Draft RTSP and First Look at 2021-2026 Project Applications: At the MPO

According to Eugene's Register-Guard, where flooding is more significant than here, our episode this week is remarkable:

Andy Bryant, hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Portland, said the weather service has no record of a flood event in the southern Willamette Valley occurring this late in the rainy season.

“The time of the year, just in my mind, makes it historically significant, that we’re having a flood like this a week into April,” he said.

Bryant added: “It’s very unusual to have this kind of heavy rain in April. What we’ve had is more of a November through February kind of weather event.”

So while this is an instance of weather, not climate, it is reasonable to think its lateness can partially be ascribed to climate change, a partial effect of climate disruption, and something of which we may be seeing more.

Tuesday front page

The Technical Advisory Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets today, Tuesday the 9th. Climate remains the Elephant in the Room, but they've got a couple of other substantial items on the agenda.

Start of draft RTSP (yellow in original)

The big item is the first complete draft of the 2019 Regional Transportation System Plan. The MPO is preparing the formal release of the draft later this month, will solicit public comment, and then in May hold a Public Hearing, with formal adoption to follow.

So at this point is it possible to start outlining main threads on the RTSP. The Executive Summary offers one of them. It's a very clear expression of hydraulic autoism, and they've even left a relevant portion in yellow: "The anticipated increase in travel demand will put pressure on each component of the regional transportation system..." It's all about inexorable growth of fluid and the pressure that follows.

It's not about safety, it's not about the movement of people and goods (as distinct from cars), it's not about climate and pollution. It's about fluid pressure.

This remains a great theoretical problem in our high-level concepts and planning for transportation.

City Council, April 8th - Downtown Parking

Council meets tonight, and you might recall a front-page piece from a couple weeks ago on proposed changes to downtown parking for residents of downtown.

Downtown Salem is experiencing an increase in private development. Currently proposed projects include a mix of uses including housing, which will increase the demand for on and off-street City parking resources. In addition, future development of the Union Gospel, Saffron sites, and the former Nordstrom Building may also increase the demand for parking resources in downtown.

The Commercial Business District (CBD) zoning district requirement for buildings with housing is one parking space for every housing unit developed. Because it can be challenging with site constraints and financial costs to build on-site structured parking and recover those costs through rental rates, developers are requesting parking adjustments or considering City structured parking resources through an agreement as a solution to meet their on-site parking needs.

Without a paid on-street parking system that would incent utilization of the free off-street parking resources, or a permit requirement for residents currently utilizing the parking garages for long term parking for free, these users are not contributing to the cost to operate and maintain the City parking resources. If the proposed revisions are approved, residents who live within one-quarter mile of the Downtown Parking District boundary will be prohibited from parking in a City garage without a parking permit. This boundary includes Pringle Parkade which is a City parking resource outside of the Downtown Parking District but within the one-quarter mile parameter.

We're just basically incoherent on parking. Separately, in the Legislative positions, there's an argument against reducing parking. The City opposes a bill that would make transit work better and help reduce the cost of new housing:

SB 10 would require the City to increase the maximum density allowed for housing to 50 units per acre within 1/4mile of bus routes with 15-minute service (e.g. Commercial, Center, Market, Lancaster, Broadway) and 25 units per acre within a 1/2 mile. In most cases, this would be higher than the densities currently allowed, though developers rarely build to the current maximum densities due to parking or other requirements. SB 10 would also prohibit the City from establishing parking minimums in these transit corridors

As advocates, the Budget Committee, and Council consider moving forward on a Climate Action Plan, it's increasingly clear we will have to read our debates on parking, on congestion. and on transit in light of our developing understanding of greenhouse gas emissions.

In Eugene, City and Transit District Collaborate on Analysis of Arterial Corridors

As City staff work on an implementation plan for the Congestion Relief Task Force recommendations, and the recommendations from the Public Transit Committee are also out there maybe a little dormant, coordinating policy and action between the City and Cherriots has seemed elusive. We resort to "sending letters" of request. This may blossom into something more, but it's also a sign of silos.

The City of Eugene and Lane Transit
collaborating on project
(Executive Summary, comment added)

Down in Eugene the City and Lane Transit may point the way to a better collaboration. Together they are working on a major plan for improving transit, reconfiguring the streets, and linking this to improved land use along the resulting transit corridor. Even if the project isn't exactly something to emulate, surely there are elements of both the process and the plan that Salemites should consider as we work on better transportation for the 21st century and to update the comprehensive plan.

Front page of the RG today

The project is evaluating expanding the existing bus rapid transit system. It's had three rounds of construction, resulting in essentially two main corridors, one on an east-west axis, the other in Springfield on a north-south axis.

EmX Bus Rapid Transit in Eugene
BRT has: Raised platform, dedicated bus lane,
bigger bus, all doors open for entry/exit,
frequent service (image via LTD)

Inside Eugene itself, the study is evaluating five big arterial stroady things for improvements. The high build alternative would be a full EmX line. A lower build alternative for improved conventional bus service is also included.

Our Salem Advisory Committee Meets Wednesday the 3rd

Is this the right 20? Three of them seemed redundant

Our Salem, the update to the Comprehensive Plan and preliminary greenhouse gas assessment, holds a stakeholder meeting tomorrow the 3rd. The City's shared no materials in advance, and it's hard to say very much.

No meeting packet, and a sparse agenda

It will be interesting to see what they say about the indicator key metrics, whether they will propose to modify them in any way, and what they might say about the greenhouse gas assessment - which does not actually appear to be on the agenda.

The meeting is at 4pm in the Center 50+, Classrooms A and B, 2615 Portland Road NE.

See previous notes on Our Salem here. Depending on what materials are published after the meeting, this post may be updated also.

ODOT to Talk New Speed Zone Process at MWACT this Month

The Mid-Willamette Valley Area Commission on Transportation, a tri-county board subordinate to the Oregon Transportation Commission, meets on Thursday the 4th, and they'll be getting an update on a new project at ODOT that looks a little interesting:

ODOT is working with stakeholders to develop a new method for speed zoning within Oregon. Nationally, there has been a reliance on 85th percentile speeds to set posted speeds. The proposed speed setting process will be based on work done in NCHRP 855 that expanded the functional class system using context and the work currently being done within NCHRP 17-76 developing new guidance for speed setting describing the factors that influence speed setting. [links added]

The rest of the meeting agenda isn't all that interesting for our purposes here, but it's good to be alerted to this potential change on the 85th percentile doctrine. (As well as a shift in thinking on the functional classification system.)

Here are some of the slides from the presentation and a little bit of comment in captions.

Downtown Notes on Early Spring

The Cherries on the Capitol Mall get all the attention, but don't forget about Camas at Bush Park and in the field just south of the Fairgrounds. At Bush, the smaller and earlier variety looks like it's just starting to appear. Nearby, at Deepwood the Trout Fawn Lilies are also up and the leaves of the Indian Plum glow when they are backlit. Even though we may have lost the sun today, don't miss on the glories of early Spring.

Camas just beginning at Bush Park (Saturday)

There was a nice piece on Saturday's front page about the demolition of the old Greyhound Depot. The new project will definitely be a higher use for the lot, and looks in nearly every way to be an improvement. So it's not difficult at all to justify the demolition.

Still, in the southmost bay, there was a lively mural, and hopefully they documented it with photos. Most of it's gone now, but you can see a single musical note and most of the phrase "We sell entertainment." I don't know if it was a nightclub or a music store or what. But it was an interesting bit of interior decoration.

Front of the Greyhound Depot at the start of demolition