6.11. SR 08-16-2004 Howard R, Green Gompany
Item 6.11.
August 10, 2004
File: 823930J-0060
Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Elk River
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330
RE: GATES AVENUE/FREEPORT STREET RESTRIPING
Dear Councilmembers:
Two of the streets included in the 2004 Sealcoating Project are Gates Avenue and Freeport
Street from Main Street to Jackson Road. These are the main roadways through the Elk
River Plaza and Elk Park Center commercial developments. Their locations are shown on
the attached exhibit.
Phil Hals, Street Superintendent and I have been discussing the re-striping of these streets
that will be necessary after the sealcoat material is removed. Currently, they are striped as
four-lane roadways except at the extreme south end of Gates Avenue as it approaches Main
Street, which is striped as two lanes with parking along both sides. We believe these two
roadways would operate more efficiently if they were re-striped into a three-lane
configuration with the center lane being a left-turn lane for both directions. Currently, the
City has two segments of roadway that are striped in a three-lane configuration. One is Main
Street between Trunk Highway 10 and Trunk Highway 169, which is at the south end of the
roads in question. The other is Business Center Drive from Joplin Street to Waco Street.
Both segments have operated very efficiently since being re-striped to three-lane
configurations. ! have discussed this proposal for Gates Avenue and Freeport Street with
Police Chief Jeff Beahen. He is supportive of the recommendation to re-stripe the roadways
to the three-lane configuration. The re-striping to a three-lane configuration would,
however, eliminate the on-street parking lane at the south end of Gates Avenue. It has been
staff's observation that these parking lanes are seldom utilized.
Staff is looking for City Council concurrence and direction to re-stripe Gates Avenue and
Freeport Street from Main Street to Jackson Road into a three-lane configuration. In the
future, staff would consider bringing forward at least two other requests for the same type of
re-striping. One would be Zane Avenue through the Wal-Mart/Home Depot area, and the
other would be Jackson Avenue between School Street and Trunk Highway 10.
2550 University Avenue West · Suite 400N ° St. Paul, MN 55114 ° 651/644-4389 fax 651/644-9446 toll free 888/368-4389
Gates/Freeport Re-Striping
August 10, 2004 Page 2
I will be in attendance at your August 16th City Council meeting to discuss this issue further.
Sincerely,
Howard R. Green Company
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