Imagine walking down Franklin Boulevard surrounded by boutiques, quaint eateries and a multi-way transportation system, instead of being terrified for your life on a bike, dodging potholes and SUVs.
After three years of planning, the Walnut Station Mixed Use Center is approaching a new phase of development, and the city is asking for the citizens of Eugene to get involved. The plan dramatically redesigns Franklin Boulevard from Onyx Street to Eugene’s city limits, with the possible addition of bike lanes, trendy shops and residential areas.
“It would positively affect us because people don’t really come into this area,” said Boulevard Grill Assistant Manager Emily Reed. “People will call us and ask what part of Franklin we’re on because they never come to this part of town and don’t know the area that well.”
The proposal for the Walnut Station Mixed Use Center was created as a solution to the Growth Management Study and the TransPlan, a transportation study the city conducted in the late 1990s. The studies revealed the necessity of the city to develop a legitimate planning strategy for future growth.
“The question was, how did we want to grow?” said Walnut Street Mixed Use Center Project Manager Lydia McKinney. “Did we want to grow out or up?”
Franklin Boulevard will become the city’s first mixed use center. The planning committee has drafted the multi-way boulevard to keep the current bus lane, but reduce the fast-traffic lanes, and create local access lanes for slower traffic. In addition, the street would include sidewalks for pedestrians.
“I think it would be a great idea,” said mayoral candidate Jim Torrey. “Arizona State University has a beautiful street … and it’s just an inviting entrance to the University area. I believe (Franklin Boulevard) can be a beautiful entrance to the city, as well.”
Its designers hope the multi-way boulevard improves the aesthetics of Franklin Boulevard.
“It reminds us that the places between buildings, like streets, are important parts of the city’s atmosphere. We have to remember streets are for people, too,” McKinney said.
The innovative multi-way boulevard is only the skeleton of an entire vision the planning committee has proposed. The Walnut Station Mixed Use Center Planning Committee has taken the process a step further. They plan on holding a “charrette” early next year to draft their specific vision by creating a form-based code for the project.
“Historically, a charrette was an opportunity for people to hold a pen in their hand and start designing themselves,” McKinney said. “Now we’re not starting from scratch, but we want this to be a very active meeting.”
Form-based codes are innovative steps in smart growth that focus on the physical appearance of buildings rather than their function. The citizens who attend the public forum will help draft how the mixed use center will transition from residential areas to commercial ones, how far away the building set from the street and the height of the buildings.
The process of creating the multi-use center is expected to occur gradually over the next few decades. The existing buildings along Franklin Boulevard are established structures of the various University neighborhoods and McKinney admits it would be too intensive to erase non-conforming buildings from the street. It is more likely that in the event of a significant remodeling, or as new businesses establishing themselves along Franklin Boulevard, those businesses would be obligated to follow the new form based code.
At present, the main objective of the process is to create a multi-way boulevard that would attract more foot traffic. It is also anticipated that the new basketball arena on the edge of the mixed-use center boundary will help attract businesses.
“Right now the most important thing is to get public infrastructure set-up in hopes of gaining support for this proposed plan,” McKinney said.
News Editor Jason Reed contributed to this report.
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