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INFORMATION #2 11-04-1996CON~[LTING ENGI~NEEi~ 1326 Energy Park Drive St. Paul, MN 55108 612-644-4389 1-800-888-2923 Fax: 612-644-9446 CIVIL ENGINEERING: ENVIRONMENTAL · tNICIPAL . ~d',INING SOUD WASTE STRUCTURAL SURVEYING TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION ELECTRICAL/MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: HVAC ~'OW~R DISTRIBUTION SCADA SYSTEM CONTROLS '~FICES IN: MINNEAPOLIS PRIOR LAKE ST. PAUL WASECA INFORMATION October 18, 1996 File: 230-308-70 Mr. Dave Schwarting Sherburne County Engineer Sherburne County Highway Deparm~ent 425 Jackson Avenue Elk River, MN 55330 RE: COUNTY ROAD 12 RECONSTRUCTION Dear Mr. Schwarting: As you may be aware, the City is actively planning for the extension of trunk sanitary sewer and watermain along the County Road 12 corridor. All the properties adjacent to this road are either currently in the Urban Service District or likely to be added to the Urban Service District in future years when, and if, the Urban Service District is expanded. The City is currently in the discussion mode with Developers who control better than 300 acres along this corridor. We anticipate that one to three development proposals will be forthcoming, either late this year or early in 1997. With that as background, we are very concerned that the design and reconstruction of County Road 12, which you have indicated to be scheduled for 1997, take into account the likely development of this corridor within the next few years. As we have indicated to you before in general discussions, we would like to see County Road 13 realigned at some point in the future so that the intersection of County Road 13 and County Road 12 is moved further east from the intersection of Main Street and TH 169. We are also planning for the continuation of a major transportation corridor south of County Road 12, ultimately intersecting TH 10 at 171st Avenue. In fact, 171st Avenue is being reconstructed this year from TH 10 to the railroad in anticipation of this new transportation corridor. With these new transportation corridors, we envision a substantial increase in traffic along the western portion of County Road 12. We hope that your design takes this into account. We would anticipate that this section would require a four-lane design. In fact, with the potential urban development along the entire corridor to approximately the east City limits, we believe a four-lane road will be justified this entire length. Also, as we have discussed before, we anticipate utilizing County Road 12 right-of-way for a trunk sanitary sewer and watermain corridor. We will be presenting a concept of this layout to the City Council in early December and sometime after that meeting will be able to provide you more specific information. An Equal Opportunity Employer I Mr. Dave Schwarting October 18, 1996 Page Two We have welcomed the opportunity in the past to share our ideas and plans for the urbanization of this area with you and your staff on an informal basis. We would be more than willing to share the City's plans on a more formal basis to help you with any design considerations for the reconstruction of County Road 12. Please let us know how we can assist you in this process so that your final design will meet both the County's objectives and the City plans for this area. Sincerely, MSA, CONSULTING ENGINEERS TJM :tw cc: pat Klaers, City Administrator 308-1807.oct ~OEULTINGENGINEEP~ ] 326 Energy Park Drive St. Paul, MN 55108 612-644-4389 1-800-888-2923 Fax: 612-644-9446 CIVIL ENGINEERING: ENVIRONMENTAL 'tNICIPAL .~NNING SOLID WASTE STRUCTURAL SURV~ING TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION E~CTRICAL/MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: HVAC K)WER DISTRIBUTION SCADA ~STEM CONTROLS "-ICES IN: r~tNNEAPOUS PRIOR LAKE ST. PAUL WASECA INFORMATION October 18, 1996 File: 230-213-20 Mr. Dave Schwarting Sherburne County Engineer Sherbume County Highway Department 425 Jackson Avenue Elk River, MN 55330 RE: CSAH 1 Dear Mr. Schwarting: Now that the County Board has taken a position on the issue of the detached pathway requested by the City along CSAH 1, we are interested in the status of several issues and/or any help that the City can provide. They are as follows: We are very interested in what the construction schedule will be. It would be the City's hope that the CSAH 1 project could be constructed entirely in the 1997 construction season, starting early in the season at the north end and finishing at the south end after the 1996/97 school year is over. We are interested in getting some kind of formal request from the County for the City to take the lead on the CSAH 1/TH 10 intersection improvements so that we can present them to our City Council and get authorization to begin work on this part of the project. We are interested in the sutus of 193rd Avenue west of CSAH 1. We had talked previously about that road being cul-de-saced. The City is still willing to support a cul-de-sac on that road so there would not be an intersection with CSAH 1. We are interested in the specifications on the detached pathway, how it will fit in with the road, what will be the separation distance between the shoulder of CSAH 1 and the pathway. If there is any input that we can provide on these types of issues, we are more than willing to help. We are interested in the realignment of County Road 44 at the intersection of CSAH 1 to ensure that the geometrics will work properly with the recently constructed Nordic Woods entrance on the east side of the road. Again, any information that we could provide, we would be happy to do so. An Equal Opportunity Employer Mr. Dave Schwarting October 18, 1996 Page Two Please let us know as quickly as possible what the project schedule would be and any issues in which you would like City participation. Sincerely, MSA, CONSULTING ENGINEERS TJM:tw cc: David Loch, County Administrator ' Pat Klaers, City Administrator 213-1803.oct ~ ~OX~ULTINGENGINEEP~ 1326 EnergyPark Drive St. Paul, MN 55108 612-644-4389 1-800-888-2923 Fax: 612-644-9446 October 30, 1996 File: 230-347-80 Mr. Donald L. Raisanen District Engineer Minnesota Department of Transportation 1991 Industrial Park Road Baxter, MN 56401 TH 169 CORRIDOR CITY OF ELK RIVER INFORMATION CIVIL ENGINEERING: ENVIRONMENTAL MUNICIPAL PLANNING SOLID WASTE STRUCTURAL SURVEYING TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION ELECTRiCAL/MECHANICAL ENGiNEeRING: HVAC POWER D;STRIBUTJON SCADA SYSTEM CONTROLS OFFICES IN: MINNEAPOLIS PRIOR LAKE ST. PAUL WASECA Dear Mr. Raisanen: As we are sure you are aware, there have been two fatalities near TH 169 and School Street within the past 30 days. At last week's City Council meeting, the Council discussed the issue of safety along the TH 169 corridor for both pedestrians and the motoring public. Several issues were raised, three of which the City Council felt strongly enough about to pass motions. Attached is a copy of the City Council minutes from the meeting. Also, below is a brief discussion of each of the items raised at the meeting: 1. Signal Warning Flashers Previously, we had raised the issue of installing signal warning flashers which flash when the signal is about to change to yellow and then red. We were originally told these pose a potential liability and MnDOT was moving away from their use. However, the recently installed signal at TH 10 and Armstrong Boulevard in the City of Ramsey has a warning flasher for eastbound traffic. A follow-up call to Dave Buss indicated that having a person available 24 hours a day to repair the flasher was necessary for their installation. We were informed District 3 had no such person on staff. We did, at Dave's suggestion, follow up with a letter to Gary Dirlam, asking him to look into this issue again. Now, with City Council support expressed by motion, we would request that flashers be installed both northbound and southbound at all signals along the TH 169 corridor. If 24 emergency service is an issue, we would suggest some sort of agreement between District 3 and Metro District to cover the flashers until District 3 can do it themselves. An Equal Opportunity Employer Mr. Donald L. Raisanen October 29, 1996 Page Two 2. Speed Limit Again by City Council motion, we are asking that the 45 mph speed zone along TH 169 be extended to north of the signals at the intersection of Jackson Avenue/ 193rd Avenue. The City's commercial and urban residential areas have grown well north of School Street in recent years. We believe this growth certainly justifies an extension of the 45 mph speed limit. 3. Pedestrian Overhead Crossing of TH 169 The third thing the City Council took action on was to authorize a study to analyze the feasibility of the construction of an overhead pedestrian crossing of TH 169. In this regard, we would appreciate any information you could provide about MnDOT design criteria for such an installation, any information about potential funding that could be used, or any other useful information about these types of installations you can provide. 4. Length of Yellow Lights The police chief has heard from several citizens, specifically truck drivers, that they feel the yellow lights on the TH 169 corridor signals are relatively short compared to other areas around the metro area. Could you please have this checked and lengthen the yellow light if appropriate. 5. Lighting We would request that MnDOT look at the possibility of providing more lighting on the TH 169 corridor through Elk River, specifically, between School Street and JacksonI197th Avenues, but also south to Main Street and north to 197th Avenue. e Fencing We are wondering if the installation of fencing along the east right-of-way between School Street and Jackson/193rd Avenues might provide some added deterrent to crossing TH 169 outside of signalized intersections. Please let us know how to officially get this type of request initiated. At-Grade Pedestrian Crossing There have been many complaints that it is impossible for a pedestrian to cross TH 169 during one cycle of the green light. Is there anything that can be done to lengthen the green light time for these pedestrian movements? Mr. Donald L. Raisanen October 29, 1996 Page Three As you might imagine, this is quite an emotional issue. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate your thoughts and comments to these items as quickly as possible. Sincerely, MSA, CONSULTING ENGINEERS T~rer, P.E. City Engineer TJM:tw Attachment cc: Mayor and City Council Pat Klaers, City Administrator Gary Dirlam, District 3 Traffic Engineer 347-2903.oct 6.1. Traffic Situation on Hiahway 169 Mayor Duitsman indicated his concern regarding the running of yellow lights on Highway 169 and 193r'~ Avenue. Mayor Duitsman requested the City Engineer to look into the possibility of installing flashing warning lights on Highway 169 to warn drivers that a green light is about to turn yellow. Terry Maurer indicated that he has been in contact with MnDOT regarding this issue and stated that MnDOT has many concerns regarding the installation of flashing lights, and, at this time, has not authorized the installation. Terry Maurer indicated that he would continue to work. with MnDOT regarding this issue. COUNCILMEMBER FARBER MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY ENGINEER TO INFORM MNDOT OF THE CITY COUNCIL'S SUPPORT OF THE INSTALLATION OF FLASHING LIGHTS ON HIGHWAY 167 NORTH AND SOUTHBOUND FROM MAIN STREET TO 177m AVENUE. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Councilmember Dietz indicated his concern regarding the speed limit on Highway 169 to 193,d Avenue. He indicated that he would like to see the speed reduced to 45 miles per hour. COUNCIl. MEMBER DIETZ MOVED TO REQUEST MNDOT TO CONTINUE THE 45 MILE PER HOUR SPEED LIMIT ON HIGHWAY 1fi9 FROM SCHOOL STREET NORTH UP TO 197m AVENUE ON BOTH NORTH AND SOUTHBOUND LANES. COUNCILMEMBER SCHEEL SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Duitsman requested the City Engineer to consider the possibility of providing an overpass along Highway 169 and School Street to allow pedestrians to safely cross Highway 169. Terry Maurer distributed a handout on overpasses. He indicated that a very preliminary cost for an overpass would be $1 million. Terry Maurer indicated that several issues would have to be dealt with regardinb an overpass including handicap accessibility and easement acquisition. COUNCILMEMBER FARBER MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY ENGINEER TO BEGIN A STUDY OF AN OVERHEAD RAMP CROSSING HIGHWAY 169, THE STUDY TO INCLUDE THE EVALUATION OF THE LOCATION AND THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING GRANTS FOR FINANCING THIS PROJECT. COUNCIl. MEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Councilmember Farber suggested that the City Engineer study the possibility of lengthening the time of the green light to assist people in crossing Highway 169. AT&T Wireless Service Request for Zone Chan.cle, Public Hearina Case No. ZC 96-17 AT&T Wireless Service Reauest for Conditional Use Permit, Public Headna Case No. CU 96-23 City Planner Steve Ach stated that AT&T Wireless Service is requesting a zone change to rezone certain property to antenna,overlay district and a conditional use permit for a wireless communication antenna pole and equipment building. The proposed location for the antenna overlay district and conditional use permit is east of Highway 10, south of 175Ih Avenue alignment, and west of the Burlington Northern railroad tracks. Steve Ach reviewed the staff repod on both of these issues.