| 2004 Lane Council of Governments report admits WEP traffic snarl |
graphics below copied from
Congestion Management System Baseline Report
for the Central Lane Transportation Management Area
September 2004
on the web at www.lcog.org/PDF/CMS09-01final.pdf
v/c stands for "Volume to Capacity" - a measurement of traffic congestion. Note that this graphic means LCOG admits the WEP would overload 6th and 7th Avenues and Interstate 105 (Washington-Jefferson bridge). Fixing Beltline is the real express connection between Interstate 5 and the western edge of the metropolitan region.
a close-up view of the above graphic
| 1997 Supplemental Draft EIS admits WEP would clog 6th and 7th |
| 1996 ODOT traffic study shows 6th and 7th would be oversaturated |
An arterial road such as the 6th / 7th couplet has an approximate capacity of 10,000 cars per lane per day (source: ODOT "Main Street" publication, also FHWA personal communication).
Note that 7th Avenue east of Garfield Street would be at 54,000 cars per day, more than the approximate 40,000 cars per day capacity.
FHWA's "Logical Termini" standards require a project to consider impacts beyond the ostensible terminus if the project forces additional road construction not analyzed and approved in the environmental document. Therefore, since the WEP would overload road capacity beyond the eastern terminus of Garfield Street, the EIS needs to include the "downstream" impacts that WEP traffic would have on this road.
