Nearly 50 residents of the neighborhood where the new arena will be built prodded arena developers and parking analysts for answers at an informational session on Wednesday, and were highly critical of a parking study that says up to 900 cars will park on their streets on game nights.
The informational session, held at the Many Nations Longhouse, featured a panel of arena developers from JMI Sports, representatives from the traffic impact consultants David Evans and Associates and a parking demand analyst from JRH Transportation Engineering.
The meeting was another University attempt to appease critics and create an open dialogue about neighborhood concerns.
But what perturbed residents more than how 900 cars will park on the streets within a half-mile of the arena on game nights, was how the parking analysts expect only a handful of cars will park on the streets outside their homes during non-athletic events.
“One of our bigger concerns is with non basketball game events,” said Sue Jakabosky, co-chair of the Fairmount Neighborhood Association. “I don’t think this study is adequately addressing the impacts of that.”
The athletic department will likely have between 21 and 54 non-University events in order to earn enough revenue to pay back the $200 million state-backed bonds it received from the Oregon Legislature. The total number of events at the arena each year will be between 65 and 100, according to a feasibility study by CSL International.
The traffic demand management plan, which was done by JRH Transportation, says that concerts and other non-University events will only seat up to 9,500 patrons – and nearly all of those patrons will be able to park on campus lots.
“If they think they aren’t going to park in the streets during non-game nights, they’re just out in left field and they know it,” Jakabosky said.
Janice Casto, who represented JRH at the meeting, said the study doesn’t imply that no one will park in the street, it just says the required amount of parking spaces will be fulfilled by what the University will provide.
The University needs to build a 400- to- 500-car underground garage in order to meet the 2,575 parking spaces needed, according to the study.
The University is financing the $18 million garage with donations and a $10.9 million bond it received from the state legislature in 2003. Parking fees for arena patrons will cover as much as 70 percent of the bond, according to an agenda filed with the state board of higher education.
Neighborhood residents doubt that everyone coming to the arena for non-athletic events will park on campus or in the garage, though. Instead they’ll take free street parking.
“(The study) doesn’t recognize human behavior,” said Greg Rikhoff, University liaison. “It’s really just a statistical analysis.”
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Local residents critical of arena parking study
Daily Emerald
April 30, 2008
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