HANDOUT #1 07-24-2006
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City of Elk River
REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
Agenda Section Meeting Date
July 24, 2006
Item Number
2.
Prepared by
Scott Clark, Community Development
Director
Catherine Mehelich, Director of
Economic Develo ment
Reviewed by
Item Description
Discuss Construction Areas and Downtown Traffic
Introduction
The purpose of the special meeting is to provide the Council an update on the various construction
projects as it relates to downtown traffic and as it affects the August 11 th deadline for resuming Main
Street to two-way traffic.
Background
On May 1, 2006 the Council discussed temporary changes to downtown traffic flow. The Council
approved a temporary re-route of Main Street, per the bank's contractor request, for a three month
period with traffic to resume by August 11th. The approval was granted with the understanding that the
MetroPlains Construction Staging Plan is adhered to and that Main Street would need to be closed again
sometime in September/October for approximately 2-3 weeks to accommodate utility work for the
Bluffs and Jackson Place.
Discussion
Since the May 1 st meeting more information has been obtained and observed to assist the Council in
further deliberations regarding the August 11 deadline to resume two-way traffic:
1. More information has been gathered from the project contractors about construction schedules.
2. Three months experience of traffic patterns and behaviors during the re-route period has been
observed.
3. Greater understanding of the present and future construction coordination issues (construction traffic)
especially in light of the third project starting, Jackson Place.
The purpose of tonight's meeting is to discuss what appears to be two options regarding Main Street:
1. Resume two-way traffic on August 11 tho
From the contractors' information, there will be future needs to close the street (utility work) and
that for an extended period of time (potentially two months) major disruptions may occur daily to
allow construction vehicles and equipment access to the sites.
2. If the Council desires to discuss an extension of the August 11 th deadline, staff has secured from the
individual contractors what they view as their needs in terms of both closures and interferences that could
severely disrupt traffic flow.
C:\Documents and Settings\cmehelich\Desktop\7.24.06 REQUEST COUNCIL ACTION.doc
Attachments
. Memorandum from Police Chief Beahen re: Downtown Redevelopment Project
.Construction Schedule from VanMan Architects & Builders, July 24-0ct.1
Action Requested
Staff seeks direction from the Council in how to proceed with the August 11 th street opening.
Council Action
Motion by _
Second by _
Vote
Follow Up
C: \Documents and Settings \ cmehelich \Desktop \ 7.24.06 REQUEST COUNCIL ACTION .doc
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River
Police Department
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor and City Council
Jeffrey A. Beahen, Chief of Police
July 24, 2006
Downtown Redevelopment Project
There are several issues surrounding the downtown project that directly involve the police
department and have created a litany of problems that the Council should be apprised of.
My hope in conveying this information is to better inform the Council of some of the
factors that have impacted the project as a whole, and what new factors will be impacting the
project in the near future.
First, the traffic plan as approved by the Council last October and revisited in May, was an
accurate document, at the time it was written and when project schedules were tracking as
projected, or were to start on time. Through a variety of issues and complications, outside
my control, projects were delayed, started early, or changed in scope, all having dramatic
impact on the traffic flow directly related to construction delivery, construction traffic and
interrelated business deliveries and customer traffic. We utilized a static traffic control plan,
designed for a dynamic construction process, often with unforeseen results.
Second, we all know that signs and adherence to same has been an unforeseen problem with
far reaching implications. Starting with the "No-left Turn" on Parrish when this first began,
we have been faced with almost zero compliance with traffic control signage. Even today,
we still have people traveling the wrong way on Jackson. Last week, a driver drove past all
the signs on Proctor, up across piles of gravel, and got hung up on the tracks during the
repairs to the crossing. Frankly, if people just obeyed signs, 95% of the issues surrounding
the downtown project would simply go away. Yet enforcement, personalized traffic control
guidance from the downtown officer, and better than ever signs-still result in the majority
not following the traffic control plan at all. I have no answers for compliance, we have tried
everything-we just need to be aware that signage is not the solution.
Last, as we move forward to reopening the road for that 4-week period, we need to
understand that the staff I supply for this project will increase from 1-officer, 9-hours a day,
to 3-officers, 9-hours a day. We estimate that just the one officer will cost the City almost
$40,000 through October. Adding the two additional officers will be another $24,300. I am
still five officers short, so the remaining officers are filling these details by working overtime,
with many staff working 16-hour days.
Added to that will be the chaos that will be created by the start of the busy session for
excavation of Jackson Square and the delivery oflarge planking to both the Bluff's and to
the Bank of Elk River as well as the brick work on the exterior of the new bank addition.
This will mean that for excavation alone, there will be a dump truck every 3-4 minutes
backing into the Jackson Square site each day. Officers will have to stop traffic constantly to
make this happen. They will also have to stop traffic frequently to get brick and planking
deliveries in as well. The resulting schedule will mean that although the road will be open, it
will be impassable or blocked more than it will be open.
From a last safety concern, we will have the motoring public driving through the middle of
three primary construction areas, with cranes and lifts being operated beside and above
them, as well as equipment operating within the same traffic lanes, lanes that due to the
latest fencing-are no longer straight, but actually angled as the cars get close to coming back
out to the Jackson intersection. Then, four weeks later we close it all down again and have to
reeducate the driving public for the remaining part of the closure-perhaps another 5-6 weeks.
In closure, the purpose of this correspondence is not to deter the Council from standing by
the decision to reopen the road, but to inform the Council of some of the factors that have
changed or continue to impact our traffic situation downtown. I understand the predicament
and pressure from the business community, and know that opening is what was promised. It
may however create a more problematic traffic pattern than what currently exists, so we
need to insure that in this case, we know exactly what associated issues will be created once
the road is opened, so that we can be prepared to deal with those new issues when they arise.
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Construction Schedule for The Bank of Elk River Expansion
for the period of July 24 - October 1,2006.
Submitted by VanMan Architects & Builders
w~cJ ~-J-S, July 24, 2006
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