7.0. SR 09-29-1997ITEM
C~ty of
iver
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor & City Council
Klaers, City Admin's~~/
Pat
IFI/
September 29, 1997
Council Worksession
A City Council worksession on development activities is scheduled for
Monday, September 29, 1997. The following issues need to be reviewed and
discussed:
Western Area Transportation and Land Use · County Transportation Plan, bridge over the Elk River, and
timing of bridge construction
· Consider City street connection south of Highway 10 to bridge
intersection
· Road system including frontage road from the Government
Center to Waco and relocation of Waco intersection at
Highway 10
· Economic Development Strategic Plan recommendations
· Land use options
· Wilson rezoning
· 5 minute video on industrial activities
Western
·
Area Utilities and Development Requests
County lateral sewer line extension within frontage road and
future water line loop
Trunk sewer and water location, size and timing
Chuba development proposal west of Waco along Highway 10
Eastern
·
·
Area
Official map...total proposal and segment to be recorded
Highway 10 and 171st Avenue signal justification (see
attachment)
Land acquisition.., services from Evergreen; 1997-98
acquisitions and areas to be purchased at a later date
171st and 173rd Street connection construction, design, and
timing
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
Eastern Area (cont.)
· Economic Development Strategic Plan recommendations, land
use options, and proposed Business Park rezonings
· Trailer court and Waddy Schulze development proposals
· Trunk sewer and water timing and location issues
· County Road 12 reconstruction
City Cost Issues
· Land acquisition...streets (171st and 173rd connection, Brown
property, Waco Street connection to Highway 10) ...Business
Park land (Brown and Eull properties)
· Streets...western area frontage road and Waco connection to
Highway 10, 171st and 173rd connection, 175th to the east,
171st/Highway 10 signal
· East trunk sewer and water utilities
Source of Funds · Assessments... for utilities and possibly streets
· City Development Fund...Business Park land, property for
streets, utility assessments being "held"
· TIF
· Municipal state aid funds - for eligible streets only
· City reserve funds...WWTP for sewer, Utilities for water,
City Capital Projects Reserve for streets
· City-wide tax levy
Note:
As everyone understands, there are not sufficient funds to
finance all of the needed projects and accordingly, priorities will
need to be established for desired projects. Additionally, it is
very likely that a city-wide tax levy will be necessary to
finance the Eastern Elk River trunk utility project.
Howard R, Green Company
CONSULTING ENGINEERS
September 19, 1997
File: 801760-0060
CO~NSI!LTING I~NGINEEI~
Formerly MSA
Consulting Engineers
Mr. Pat Klaers
City Administrator
City of Elk River
13065 Orono Parkway
P. O. Box 490
Elk River, MN 5530-0490
RE:
TH 10 AND 171st AVENUE INTERSECTION
SIGNAL JUSTIFICATION REPORT
Dear Mr. Klaers:
On Thursday, September 18, 1997, I had a meeting with Gary Didam, District 3 Traffic
Engineer, and Terry Humbert, District 3 Planning Engineer, in their St. Cloud office regarding
the above referenced intersection. The signal engineer from the Metro District was supposed to
join the meeting by tele-conference but was not available due to illness. The purpose of the
meeting was to discuss the process by which the City could initiate a signal justification report at
the intersection of TH 10 and 171st Avenue. Mn/DOT had a number of suggestions, for items
that should be included in the study of the warrants for signalization of the intersection. They
include the following:
Traffic counts on 173rd and Tyler Avenue, to determine the number of trips that would be
diverted to 171st Avenue with the closing of the railroad crossing at 173rd Avenue.
A turning movement count from TH 10 on to 173rd Avenue, to estimate the number of
diverted trips should the railroad crossing be closed.
Estimated trips from the recently approved Morrel Transfer facility.
A concrete median along 171st Avenue, to preclude right turns into the Snyder Auto
Sales driveway or left turns out of the Houle Oil driveway closest to TH 10.
The closing of the most northerly driveway on the Houle Oil Site, along TH 10 frontage.
Similar to the western area of the City, Mn/DOT suggested that the City staff do some
planning for road alignments on the southwest side of TH 10, to funnel traffic to the
newly signalized intersection with 171st Avenue in an attempt to close some of the non-
signalized access points along this stretch of highway, Terry Humbert felt it would be
appropriate for Mn/DOT to participate in the construction of this frontage road. He felt it
was appropriate because of the benefit to the trunk highway system, by limiting the
number of access points.
1326 Energy Park Drive · St. Paul, MN 55108 ° 612/644-4389 fax 612/644-9446 toll free 800/888-2923
September 19, 1997
Mr. Pat Klaers
Page Two
Along the same lines, it may be appropriate to begin looking at frontage road alignments
on the northeast side of TH 10, to see if there is a route that could be used to connect
businesses from the 173rd Avenue down to 171 st Avenue.
We discussed bdefly the financing of any improvements at this intersection. Mn/DOT agreed
that they would participate in the funding of the signal through the normal cooperative
agreement process, and anticipated that they would participate in partial funding of any frontage
roads that were built if they could justify a benefit to the trunk highway system. They did caution
me that funding may not be available immediately. They thought they might be I to 2 fiscal
years out on cooperative agreement monies. They indicated that the City certainly could
assume all financial responsibilities to construct an improvement sooner and then through the
cooperative agreement process, receive some reimbursement in future fiscal years.
At this point, if the City Council would like to proceed in pursuing signalization of this
intersection, it would be appropriate to direct us to initiate a signal justification report covering
the various items listed above. I would estimate that the cost of such a report may be in the
$5,000-$7,000 range and take approximately 60 days to complete.
If you have any questions regarding this issue, please call.
Sincerely,
Howard R. Green Company
TJM/et
O:~proj~801760\760-1907.sept
Howard R, Green Company
CONSULTING ENGINEERS