4.11. SR 02-22-2000~ity of
iver
MEMORANDUM
Item #4.11.
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor & City Council ·
Pat Klaers, City Admi~a~r
February 22, 2000
Highway 101 Bridge Update
An informational meeting on the Highway 101 bridge replacement project was
held on February 8 at the Otsego City Hall. Traffic options while the bridge is
being replaced were reviewed at the meeting and preference seemed to be with
the four lane option. Attached is the 2/16/00 Star News article that reviews
this informational meeting and the three main options.
Mayor Klinzing has asked that this item be on the agenda for council
discussion. One concern the city obviously has deals with access to the bridge
from eastbound Highway 10 and the MnDOT detour routes if no access is
provided. (Also, the 600-700 vehicle count taking eastbound Highway 10 to
southbound Highway 101 seems low to me, but the number must be from an
official count of some type.) All three options eliminate access to eastbound
Highway 10.
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
Citizens say four-lane
option worth extra money
by Jim Boyle
Staff writer
A plan to keep four lanes opefi
during the Highway 101 bridge
replacement project drew the
most support at an open house
last weelc
The majority felt it would be
worth spending the estimated
$100,000 it would cost 'to
expand portions of the south-
bound bridge over the
Mississippi River in Elk River
to make room for four lanes --
two southbound and two north-
bound.
This was the consensus
despite the fact the entrance
onto southbound Highway 101
and northbound Highway 169
from eastbound Highway 10
would have to be closed.
"The consensus of just about
everybody who came tonight
was if four lanes could be main-
tained, that would be great,"
said Peter Korolchul~ a consul-
tant working on behalf of the
Minnesota Department of
Transportation (MnDOT).
"Everybodfs concern was that
we were going to eliminate a
lane."
More study needed
MnDOT has not decided what
it will do, but it is also interest-
ed in the four-lane option.
However, more study is needed.
It must make sure the neces-
sary structural improvements
to pull it off are feasible, assess
the added cost and analyze traf-
fic impact.
Engineers will have to study
the feasibility of the proposed
structural improvements,
which would amount to widen-
ing two sections of the bridge.'
There win be structural and
aesthetic questions to answer.
Two three-lane options exist
If it's not possible, MnDOT
might have to look to a three-
lane option, which would fea-
ture two northbound lanes and
one southbound lane. The exit
onto northbound Highway 169
from eastbound Highway 10
would have to be closed, but the
merge lane for southbound
Highway 101 from eastbound
Highway 10 could remain open.
This option would not require
any modifications to the bridge,
m_aking it the cheap.est.opti0n.-
Highway 101 Bridge Options
· Four lane option --Expand portions of the southbound
bridge to allow for four lanes -- two southbound and two
northbound --during the northbound Highway 101 bridge
replacement project. Thb entrances to northbound Highway
169 and southbound Highway 101 from eastbound Highway
10 Would be closed off.
· Three-lane option -- Use the current width of the south-
bound Highway 101 Bridge to run three lanes --two north-
bound and one southbound. The entrance onto southbound
Highway 101 from eastbound Highway 10 would be closed.
· Three lane option with moveable barrier -- Use the cur-
rent width of the southbound Highway 101 bridge for three
lanes, always having two lanes for peak travel. This would be
accomplished with the use of a moveable barrier that could be
moved with heavy machinery.
,Everybody's.
concern was that
we were going to
eliminate a lane.'
-Peter Korolchuk.
MnDOT consultant
Highway 101 bridge would be
narrow with the existence of
three lanes.
MnDOT plans to have more
traffic counts done to assess the
eastbound Highway 10 traffic
before it makes any decisions
about the four-lane option.
Four-lane option eyed
MnDOT officials like the four-
lane option so far. They say it
will be better to make 600
motorists who take eastbound
Highway 10 to Highway 101
and 169 to find an alternative
route, rather than delay thou-
sands of vehicles using the
Highway 101 bridge from
Highway 169, 101 and west-
bound Highway 10.
"Our goal is to limit delay on
the main line, so it's not attrac-
tive for people to find another
route," said one MnDOT official.
To spread 600 to 700 cars
between Monticello, Parrish
Avenue and Highway 169 via a
'U-turn at a stop light along
Highway 10 and Highway 169
in Anoka might not make a per-
ceptible d_'rfference in traffic
Mike Robertson expressed his
city's opposition to anything
short of having two lanes for
peak traffic. Both Otsego and
Elk River city councils will draft
r&solutions to put their views on
paper.
Citizen input
Citizens who attended last
week's open house asked about
adding stop lights and finding
alternative routes in order to
keep access to Highway 101 and
Highway 169 from eastbound
Highway 10 open. Officials
explained that safety issues
would arise, and that there are
not other ways to re-route the
on-ramps.
Third option is costly
A third option is to make the
best use of three lanes with a
movable barrier. This option is
said to be cost-prohibitive.
Under this option a "barrier
transfer machine," would move
the center barrier twice a day in
order to always have two lanes
open for peak travel. This
option could easily be two times
as expensive as the four-lane
option, said Korolchuk, of
Stanley Consultants.
Members of MnDOT and
Stanley Consultants will meet
to further discuss what they
heard at the open house, review
the comment cards and addi-
tional feedback they will get.
Comments still being taken
If interested in making verbal
or written comments call Chad