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3.7. SR 08-21-2006 City of Elk River Item Number REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION 3.7.* Agenda Section I Meeting Date Prepared by Consent .L\ugust 21, 2006 Lori Johnson, CitY.l\drninistrator Item Description Reviewed by Consider Letter to tlle Editor from Terl)! 1/faurer Introduction TIlls is a follo\v up to tlle Council's request tllat tlle City Engineer draft a letter to tlle editor regarding transportation issues. TIle attacIled letter incorporates tile Council's cl1.anges and suggestions to dle draft letter. Discussion None Financial Impact None Attachments . Letter to tlle Editor froln City Engineer Terry J\ifaurer Action Requested The City Council is asked to approve tlle attaclled letter to tlle editor froln City Engineer Terry tvfaurer regarding transportation issues. Council Action :0.,Iotion b)r Second bv \Tote Follow Up S:\Council\Lori\2006\Letter to Editor Cover.doc 13065 Orono Park"way Elk River. MN 55330 August 21, 2006 Editor Elk River Star News 506 Freeport Avelllle NW Elk River, MN 55330 I all1 \vritillg tIlis letter on behalf of Elk River's Mayor and City Council ill response to recent letters fr0111 Plamlil1g C011Ul1issioll1l1ell1bers Brad Stevells and Leo Offellnan. They raise the iSSlle tIlat tllere are Sigtlificallt trallsportatioll difficlllties ill tIle City. The Council couldll't agree ll10re. 111 Coullcil plaIllling sessio11S, including plalllling sessions in wllich our COlnnlissiollS l1ave been illvolved, it has been routillely stated that a nlajor issue facillg tIle City is trallsportatioll (\vitIl grO\vtll issues ill general also topping tIle list). COlltrary to tile COll1111ellts 11lade ill the letters, the City Ilas not beell idly sitting by. In tile past several years, tllere have beell nlallY road iluprovements made \vithin the City to help \vitIl traffic conce1ns. The City has been a strollg supporter for the NorthStar Corridor COffilTIuter rail which s110llld begill operatioll ill 2009. Unfolillnately, nlany of the trallsportation iInprovements we wOllld like to nlake \vill take significant tinle to accomplisll. SaIne of the issues, SUCIl as those relatillg to COUllty roads or High\vays 10 and 101/169, are just silnply out of the City's direct control. Regardillg Highway 169: TIle State has a proposed plall for High\vay 169 whicl1 elltails overpasses at Main Street, School Street, 193rd A vellue alld 197tIl Avenue. There will be 110 access Ollto Higl1\Vay 169 at School Street. U1lfortullately, the projected plall is not evell on tIle long-tenll plall tllat MnDOT llas ill place. Given the road improvelllel1ts at HigIl\vay 33 and furtl1er to tIle NortIl, alld no\v tIlose frOlll Rogers tlrrough Otsego, we fil111ly believe tIlat tIle proposed Elk River illlprovelllellts will OCCllr alld tIlat they ShOllld occur SOOller, ratIler than later. Earlier this year, tile State had allocated $1 million dollars for a Geometric Layout and Envirolilllelltal Study relatillg to HigIlway 169 (the fil1al steps needed to be taken before a project call be started); 110\VeVer, due to State fillallcial isslles, those llloneys \vere stripped away. Tile City e\Tell offered to pay up to a l11illion dollars to Ilave that stlldy cOlnpleted, bllt MnDOT refused. Phone: 763.63;.1000 Fax: 763.635.1090 WW\v. ci. elk - ri ver. mn. us The State's plall for HigIlway 10 may 11ave evelllllore ilnpact. The State's plall has Highway 10 bei11g raised about 15 - 20 feet through tIle downtown area, with ullderpasses at Main Street and JacksoIl Avenue. No mOlley is available to MnDOT to complete tile study on this project. Tile COUI1Cil alld City staffllave been working diligelltly to try to obtain either Federal or State fullding for the Ilighways. Mayor Klil1zing, COllncilmembers Motin and Gumphrey, and City Administrator Jolmson have all traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with various legislators (SeIlators Colelnan alld Dayton, Congresslnen KelU1edy and Oberstar) and their staffs to obtain fllllding. Recent construction proj ects have admittedly caused travel on Highway IOta become even more difficult, at least temporarily. The tlrree ongoing building construction projects in downtown Elk River llad caused a rerouting of Main Street and the redirectioll of traffic from the ParrisIl Avenue Bridge froln Otsego to Highway 10. MnDOT changed the timing of the lights to allow 1110re traffic flow across alld onto Highway 10. The impact, as pointed out in Mr. Stevens' letter, has generated greater traffic flow difficulties at the Main Street alld Highway 1 0 intersection. WitIl the recent reopening of Main Street, MnDOT \vill be able to change the signal timing back aIld, hopefully, get traffic flow alollg Highway 10 to what it \vas before the closing of Main Street. A1lother recellt project WIlich callsed a very difficult week of commuting was the week-long closillg of Proctor Avenue \vhich was necessary to allo\v repair of the rapidly deteriorating railroad crossillg. While the City wanted tIle crossing repaired, because Proctor Avenue is a COUllty road and because it required coordination with the railroad, tile City was not directly illvolved in the till1ing of tIle \vork. Mr. Stevells' letter states "tIle problelll is WIlD is actually in charge of the traffic control systellls of Elk River? The allswer is jtlSt abotlt everYOlle, City, County alld State - none of whom appear to be cOImnunicatillg at al1." The City of Elk River strongly believes that it has an excellent ongoing relationship witll all govemmelltal elltities. Over the past 20 years, the City has cooperatively worked with MnDOT on lllany projects illcluding those that resulted in the reconstruction of local roads, the closing of unneeded and unsafe highway accesses to Highways 10 and 169 al1d creating new, safer, signalized illtersections along botll highways. In addition to the City's lobbying efforts to secure federal fundillg as melltioned above, MnDOT has lent its support to the effort and it will be a valued participant, should the City secure additional fulldillg for further sllldy of tIle area from the Inter- Regional Corridor Plal1. In recent years, tIle City Ilas also beell able to forge a much stro11ger relationship with Sherburne County Higll\vay Staffwitll the appointment of Rhonda Lewis as County Engineer and John Mentor as Public Works Director. We have worked cooperatively with these two individuals to plan the reconstruction of County Higll\Vay 40 between County Roads 12 and 13 in the eastern part of Ollr developi11g urban area. The City has also worked cooperatively with the COllnty High\vay Departlllellt and the gravel mine owners to help facilitate the reconstruction of COUl1ty Roads 33 alld 77 ill tIle Ilorthem part of the City. At our request, the COllnty included an underpass for the Great llortllem Trail crossing OfCOUllty Road 33. Botll of these projects will begill COllstruction this fall. Sherbllme COUllty is Cllrrently updating its Comprehensive Trallspoliation Study and tIle City of Elk River is represented on the COllnty's Technical Advisory COlllmittee. COll1111issioller o ffell1l an ' s letter (\vllile not Inelltiolli1lg that l1e lives just off of 193rd Avenue) speaks of tIle COUllCil' s decisioll to extelld tile 193rd Avenue corridor eastward to meet COUl1ty Road 13 as if it \vas the wrol1g decisiol1 and tIle rigllt decisioll would have been to extend School Street / Elk Hills Drive to lneet COllllty Road 13 instead. The City views this not necessarily as an "eitller/or" decisioll, but ratller a "\vl1ich one ShOllld be done first" decision. Both corridors are listed ill tIle City's Comprellensive Transpol1ation Plan. Given the State's likelihood of not allo\villg access fronl School Street OlltO Highway 169 when the overpass is bllilt, alld given the fact tllat 193rcl Avenue lvas allvaJ)s plannecl to be a corridor (as evidellced by its having been bllilt 111ucll wider to llal1dle tIle traffic), as the City COllncil discllssed ilTIplemelltation of the C011lprelle11sive Transportatioll Plan, the decisioll was nlade that tIle 193rd Avenue Corridor s110uld be \vorked 011 first. Tllis decision did not elilni11ate tIle need for other cOITidors to be constructed in the future. As part of tIle process in 111aking tIle detel111illation, 011 February 8, 2005, the Elk River Plalming Conullission discussed inlplementatioll strategies for tIle Comprehensive Tra11sportatioll Plan. In a \veigl1ted poll of tIle Plalming Commission, the two top corridors for study recommended to the City COU11Cil were tIle Elk Hills Drive conidor \vith a score of 19 and tIle 193rd Avenue corridor \vitll a score of 18. TIle third alld fOlIrtll reco11ln1endations l1ad lTIllell lo\ver scores at 13 alld 10, respectively. Please let your councilnle111ber kIl0\V YOlU~ t11oug11ts 011 traffic plal11ling in Elk River. Trallsportatioll is and will cOl1tinue to be a top priority on the City Council at a highway, COUllty road, alld local level. 111put fronl constituellts relative to whieh projects should be plioritized is al\vays helpful ill tIle decision-lnaking process. You should also let your feelings be known to your Federal and State legislators as mallY of tIle desired il1lprovenlents calU10t be made \vithout tlleir assistance. ct::::, (J~# /L.-e/~ tJ /, f~~./ " Terry Maurer City E11gineer