In case you don’t live here, this is the street they are talking about being the main access road into the new developments. The pavement on Floral Hill Drive is only 17 feet wide. It is well under the city’s own design standards for a street serving as a connector road for a housing complex (or two) of this size. A steep drop off on the east side and many trees abutting the roadway would make widening it expensive and impractical. There are blind hills and curves. No sidewalks once you are out of the complex boundaries. No shoulders, no bike lanes and barely enough room for two vehicles to pass each other without one of them having to pull over.
One resident points out that there are now 70 unevenly-spaced residential structures along both sides of this 0.8 mile (4,225 feet) Floral Hill Drive; each side has approximately half that total (35). Adding 40 households along Floral Hill Drive would be a 57% increase. Further, the frontage of the 2 lots on which DevNW proposes to build these 40 residences is 463 feet. Put simply, the proposed development would more than double the number of dwellings on the affected side of Floral Hill Road, and do so on little more than a tenth of the length of the road. This would be – literally – a shocking addition as well as an incongruous concentration in an already established neighborhood. The initial construction-related dirt and noise disruption (one year? two?) will be followed by the permanently ongoing additional normal everyday noise of 40 more households in a valley where sound carries well.
Street Width Dimensions in Eugene
According to Eugene Code
The width dimensions of streets in Eugene are determined by their classification and intended use. The city follows specific design standards to ensure that streets accommodate all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles.
General Street Classifications
Eugene’s streets are categorized into different types, each with its own width specifications. Floral Hill Drive is listed as a Neighborhood Street which typically would be 30-40 feet wide but it is actually less than the width of a typical alley. Here are some common classifications:
| Street Type | Typical Width Range |
|---|---|
| Commercial Main Street | 60 – 80 feet |
| Residential Connector | 50 – 60 feet |
| Neighborhood Residential | 30 – 40 feet |
| Mixed-Use Neighborhood | 50 – 70 feet |
| Shared Street | 20 – 30 feet |
Design Considerations
- User Accommodation: Streets are designed to prioritize safety and accessibility for all users, including pedestrians and cyclists.
- Modal Hierarchy: The design standards emphasize accommodating the most vulnerable users first, which influences the width and layout of the streets.
For precise specifications and additional details, it is recommended to consult the Complete Street Design Standards provided by the City of Eugene.
It is obvious that Floral Hill Drive’s 17 foot width is not up to code to handle current traffic levels let alone the type of traffic that one or two developments of this size would add to the road.
While it’s the developer’s responsibility to cover the cost of improving the road directly in front of the development property it would still be an unimproved county road with no sidewalks or adequate allowance for bicyclists or runners on the road along all the other properties.
If in the future if the city determined that the width was inadequate for all the traffic they are directing be routed onto Floral Hill Drive they could require that the entire length of Floral Hill Drive be widened and sidewalks put in (at the expense of the property owners) but it would seriously impact the character of our neighborhood and still would not provide safety measures for bicyclists or or speed calming measures for vehicles. It would actually block parking along greater sections of the road because of the curbs since folks can now pull into the shoulder of their front yards to find some turf to safely park on by pulling off the pavement. This would not be an improvement! It would just create other problems stemming from the fact that Floral Hill Drive is just not a appropriate route to funnel the expansion of a development that would double the residents along our street.
