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5.4. SR 03-20-1995,. r ~~ ITEM 5.4. 'ty of ~ MEMORANDUM River TO: Mayor & City Council lk • FROM: Pat Klaers, City Ad istr for DATE: March 20, 1995 SUBJECT: Update on Elk Hills Drive/Dodge Avenue Information Meeting Attached for your review is a summary from the City Engineer of the 2/23/95 informational meeting on the Elk Hills Drive/Dodge Avenue project. Please note the end of the first page of this material where Terry outlines the various scenarios for which a project could move .forward. As the Council is aware, representatives of businesses on Dodge Avenue have requested a City petition that they plan to submit which will call for the assessment of some expenses to benefited property owners for the Dodge Avenue part of this project provided that a certain configuration of Elk Hills Drive is constructed. These representatives know that the decision on how • Elk Hills Drive should be reconstructed has not been made and there are strong feelings on both sides of the two most viable options. This item is on the agenda as an update and no action is needed at this time. • 13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425 6~5~ [~-S[!~TISG BM1GIIEEI~ 1326 Energy Park Drive St: Paul, MN 55108 612-644-4389 1.800.888-2923 J[. MINUTES OF THE 5TH STREET/DODGE/ELK-HILLS DRIVE INFORMATIONAL MEETING THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1995 6:30 P.M. CITY HALL TRAINING ROOM INTRODUCTION Fax: 61 Z•644-9446 The informational meeting was hosted by Pat Klaers, City Administrator, and Terry Maurer, City Engineer. Attached is a copy of the attendance registration sheet. As shown by the. sheet, approximately 15 property owners were in attendance. Over 80 notices were sent to the business owners along Dodge between 5th Street and Elk Hills Drive, to the residents within the Elk Hills Subdivision, and the residents along Dodge Street north of Elk Hills Drive. Also the residents along 8th Street east of Dodge: Avenue and a few residents along 5th Street received notices. It appears from the sign-up sheet that predominantly those in attendance represented the residents along Dodge north of Elk-Hills Drive and residents of the Elk Hills Subdivision. Tn .addition, Linda .and Russ Norha .and Gary Satwire were in clva ENCINEERINCr. attendance representing business interests between .Elk Hills Drive and 5th Street .ENVIRONMENTAL along DOdge Avenue. UNICIPAC ""INC Te Maurer resented a brief resentatlon of the December 1994 feasibilit stud ~ p p y y SOLID WASTE utilizing the exhibits from the feasibility study and pages 8 and 9 of the text which srRUCruRA~ summarized the project cost and .the financing. Packets of this information were suavEnNC available for those in attendance. At the close of the presentation prior to opening TRAFFIC N it up for questions and answers, Terry indicated that the purpose of this .meeting was TRANSPOerano to present information to concerned parties and in exchange, receive information EiECTRICA~~MECHANICA~ and comments back relative to their thoughts about the proposed alternatives and the ENCINEERwc: financing of the project. Terry indicated that the minutes of this meeting would be Hvac prepared and presented to the City Council. He also indicated that the City Council Poweg DISTRISUnoN had received the feasibility which had just been presented, buf had taken no further scADA action. There. was no direction given by the City Council as to which option at the srsrErn coNrRO~s intersection of Elk .Hills Drive and Highway 169 was to be pursued, nor any comments relative to the timing of the proposed improvements... Terry also indicated that there were really three scenarios that could .happen from this point forward. One would be a "do nothing" scenario, where the proposed improvements would be placed on hold-until some type of action to move them forward. The second scenario would include a development proposal and developer's agreement from the property .owners of Outlot A located north of Elk Hills Drive, which would require them to pay for some of the improvements of the intersection and Dodge Street north of Elk Hills Drive. This could provide a project for the oFFicES iN: ~ intersection and areas north of there. The third scenario would be the City Nr1EAPOUS receiving a petition from the property owners along Dodge Avenue and 5th Street PR~oR LAKE asking for improvements to proceed in this area. ST: PAUI WASECA 2301246-2705.feb >Q. QuESTiOIVS Alva alvswERs After the presentation was made. the floor was o ned to ue ti n pe q s o s and/or comments from those in attendance. Following is a summary of the points raised. ^ Russ Norha questioned the projected traffic count on Dodge Avenue. it was explained how these were developed. It was also explained that even with the future projected traffic, the northbound Dodge Avenue left turn is a Level of Service F. ^ Gary. Satwire voiced an opinion in favor of the curved option for the Elk Hills Drve/TH 169 intersection, noting that residential properties north of the intersection would learn to get off of TH 169 at 5th Street and travel north on Dodge through the intersection, which would now be a free movement with no stoppage, thus eliminating some of the traffic coming off of TH 169 to move through the intersection northerly. ^ In response to Gary Satwire's comments, .Larry Toth voiced an opinion in favor of Option 2, indicating that many of the residents who need to travel through this intersection do not come from the direction of northbound TH .169.. Larry felt that Option 2 was better since it would not have the potential of ever backing traffic up onto TH 169. • In res nse to comments about the vertical ali nment of Dod a Str Po g g eet north of Elk Hills Drive, Earl Hetrick made a comment that MnDOT .who accesses this area from their maintenance facility does a very good job of keeping that"intersection sanded in icy conditions. He did not feel that the potential of cars sliding through the intersection was a .major concern because of MnDOT's close proximity and their availability to sand the intersection. ^ A comment was made that the intersection is currently not safe, that there are many movements made by vehicles.. either rolling through the stop signs or not waiting for an appropriate gap in traffic to make their movements. ^ An opinion was raised by one of the attendants that the second option was better because there was more concrete islands delineating traffic movements rather than. just painted lines. ^ A question was raised as to whether both of these alternatives provided enough room for turning movements of large trucks. The answer given was that the State standards for heavy commercial traffic turning movements were applied to both drawings and would allow for reasonable movements . of large vehicles. 230/246-2705.feb ^ A question was raised about the speed limit on Dodge, specifically north of Elk Hills Drive. It was indicated that, based on State Statute, the speed limit would be 30 miles per hour, given the urban nature of .the area. ^ Gary Satwire asked a question relative to the level of service of the two options. It was explained that both of these options improved the level of service of the overall intersection above the current street alignments... However, each had specific movements that would be degraded. In the first option, the southbound left turn from Dodge Street to Dodge Avenue would be a Level of Service F; however, this is the movement that sees the least amount of .traffic of all the .movements in the intersection. In the second alternative, the 4-way intersection, the northbound Dodge Avenue left turn to TH 169 would eventually degrade from Level of Service D to Level of Service F. The degradation of this movement would be in response to additional traffic in the area caused by development of more commercial :property to the north or even the development of Elk Park Center across TH 169. ^ A question was raised about the potential development of Outlot A north of Elk Hills Drive. It was indicated that the current proposal shows approximately 27,000 square feet of retail broken into four buildings, one indicated to be a sit-down style restaurant, the second an auto usage of some .type, and the other two buildings unspecified retail space. ^ Several questions were raised about the possibility of additional rght- in/right-out movements either between 5th Street and Elk Hills Drive or further north of Elk Hills Drive to keep commercial traffic off of Dodge. The answer given was that it was highly unlikely that MnDOT would allow any additional breaks in the highway right-of--way for .these types of purposes. It has been the City's experience that, in order tv gain an .additional access, a similar or greater access must be given up. ^ Jackie Kedrowski of 18837 Dodge Street NW read a letter into the record. Ms. Kedrowski owns the first house north of Elk Hills Drive on Dodge Street immediately across the street from proposed Outlot A retail development. A copy of Ms. Kedrowski's letter is attached. ^ Comment was made that the free right turn proposed at Elk Hills Drive to northbound TH 169 and also at 5th Street to northbound TH :169. is a positive aspect of this and will vastly improve the movements through the intersection. ^ Larry Toth requested that notices for any future meetings for the • improvements of these ra~.dways be somehow provided to the residents that have shown an interest in .the project. 230/246-2705.feb ^ Arlan Fuchs was out of town so he submitted a letter with comments. A • copy of the letter is attached. With no more questions or comments from the audience, the informational meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. TJMaw • 230/24b-2705.feb INFORMATIONAL HEARING ATTENDANCE REGISTRATION • • tl • MS Project:_~Lh Street/DodQe/ELk Hills Drive Street Lmnrovements Hearing Date:_Februarv 23rd. 1995 Location: Citv of Elk River. Citv Hall. NAME ADDRESS '7.~ ,~ eS7`~G~ ~ ~ d4- l Q v ~ ~~-c~ a 3 a ~.~/~~,~~ ~ . g'0 ~ ~ r Olin f ~ ) ~ Z r ~//~/ ~~ i.~4.Q O ~~~~~ r~O 2- li ~ ~~~1 ,..~. .~-c~~\ ~ ~~ i rt.,w~n ~ i~~.. r' ~ -' ' -~ ~~ lL ~ J , i • February 8 , 19 9 5 The Honorable Henry Duitsman Elk River City Council Members City of Elk River 13065 Orono Road .Elk River, Minnesota 55330 Dear Mayor Duitsman & Council Members: I will be out of the City and unable to attend the February 23rd hearing. As a resident on Elk Hills Drive since 1.965., adjacent to the .proposed changes I would like to submit my thoughts for your consideration. The change to be made will hopefully be a permanent change and therefore should be looked at, not from the present traffic flow, but the future 2015.. • The Feasibility .Study for Fifth Street, Dodge and Elk Hills Drive states that Dodge Avenue provides access to existing .commercial business and a few single family homes on 8th Street generating a traffic count of 8,500 by 2015. .This is .assuming these businesses continue to have a normal growth. Dodge Street (page 5 & 6) traffic includes the residential areas referred to and the proposed commercial development with a projected traffic count of 7,4.00 by 2015. When reviewing Option 1, Exhibit 8, which has Elk Hills Dr. East of Dodge accessing Dodge Street North of the Dodge Avenue it is necessary that the projected traffic count of 1,835 by 2015 be added to the Dodge Street projection of 7,400 making a total of 9,235 vehicles entering this intersection. It is also possible that these projections made on undeveloped property may be understated. It does not appear to be prudent to make .the lesser traveled road a primary non-stop and the heavier traveled road secondary. • Reviewing Option 1 and 2 Page 4. Under Option 1 under .Pros item 2 is offset by Item 1 under Cons. The eastbound traffic from School Street and TH169 jockeying for position to go North on Dodge Street and Elk Hills Dr. has insufficient stack room. This may cause a backup .across TH169 if the through traffic .from Dodge Avenue to TH169 happens to be heavy during .the light change at TH169. Under Option 2 - a. Pros Item 1 remedies the above concern in .Option 1. b. Eastbound traffic from School Street & TH169 has .the right of way therefore traffic would not back up on TH169. c. Eastbound vehicles .have about the same. distance to perform lane changes and are under more controlled conditions. d. The pedestrian crossing is poorly defined. It should • cross Dodge Street North of Elk Hi11s Dr., then South across Elk Hills Dr. to the sidewalk on Dodge Ave. (a safer route) . The additional westbound lane and the additional stack room on Option 2 may not be the complete answer but would in my judgment be a safer & saner solution. We may have to drive a bit slower but that also means more control. Please give Option 2 your most serious consideration. Thank you for the opportunity to express my views. Yours truly, Arlon E. Fuchs • sHfd (~ 3 199 1 ~-31-`~4 ,. ilk River City "ounc:i.l ~'ity of ~.;1'~; Riv^.r ~ 30F5 C`.rono I'a.ri;wGLy I' . ^ . 730:{ 4 9D :ilk River, I~iid 55330 -~ca.r Irayor i7uitsrnan and c:ounci]. I~iembe:rs: Can :+~ocomber 2~, 19~~4 , tvo rnet with th~~ -ilk Rivnr City ~.'ngineer, Terry Iliauer at our residency. At this time, I1r I~rauer updater3 us about the pl_•?ns for 'the property lo- cated north of the inter.sectian of l~ll~ 7lill s Drive and Dodge Avenue. A. nurnbe:r of serious conoer_ns and questions arose from this meeting. Our concerns are as follows: 1. Safety for three elernenta.ry children, their friends., one teenager and three adult drivers would seem to be compromised.' 7. 1'~ccess to and. from our residential driveway will b~corne extremely difficu]_t and danger- ous due to: a. the increase: in road width to three lanes. _ b. traffic from the development driveway . which is ;]irectly oppoitF,~ our driveway. c. th~~ incr:,a.se in traffic speed due to tree straightening; of the roan without any tr. affic contro]_ . 3. The bermbuffering tY~a rest of the neighbor- hood from the development will not protect our residence from car and truck headlights and sounds as well as visual clutter from the center. ~1. The south entrance ha, been designated to handle all delivery truck traffic, thersby creating moro traffic congestion, noise, soundand air pollution. Several qu~esGions also have arisen. 1. ~rlc would like to know how you propose to alter our property? a. Ire you planning to change our driveway placement and grade? b. 'r~hat is thE. size of t-he present easement if any and do ,ycu have plans of taking any more property? c. '~~lhat type of landscaping is planned for ti?e construction ~.rea end immediate vicinity upon completion of the project? ~. 'rill access to z•rater and Uew~r be avail- . able and if so at arhat cost? ,. ale would liko to proposo :;ome modifications to the plan. 1. Fut in ~.~ frontage road on the west end of the commercial property, thereby alie~amating traffica congestion on the residential street on the east end of the proposed development. ?_. The east entrance to the development could be mound ~~.s far south of the residential driveways as possible. 3. The three lane road should be eliminated: 4. The. east entrance that. is located at 189th Street ar,d Dodge Avenue should have a four-way stop sign to slow r.]own traffic. !rie request that the City .Council address and solve these concerns ~xnd questions before the development plzn is approved. Respecti'ully, ~~ Mike and Jackie Kedrowski 18837 I:)odg~-' Ave. I~. vJ. L1k River, THIN 55330 I'l~one X141-6800 • L~