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4.0. SR 11-18-1996CON~ULTINGENGINEER~ 1326 Energy Park Drive Si'. Paul, MN 55108 612-644-4389 1-800-888-2923 Fax: 612-644-9446 November 13, 1996 File: 230-347-80 Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway P.O. Box 490 Elk River, MN 55330 RE: TRUNK HIGHWAY 169 SAFETY ISSUES ITEM 4. CIVIL ENGINEERING: ENVIRONMENTAL ' ~4UNICIPAL ~,NNING SOLID WASTE STRUCTURAL SURVEYING TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION ELECTR!CAL/MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HVAC POWER DISTRIBUTION SCADA SYSTEM CONTROLS , qFFICES IN: ·,dNNEAPOLIS PRIOR LAKE ST. PAUL WASECA Dear Council Members: As the City Council is aware, a few weeks ago you directed me to send a letter to MnDOT raising concerns about the safety of Trunk Highway 169 corridor, specifically, relative to pedestrian movements. A copy of that letter is attached for your reference. On November 7, 1996, we received a reply from Donald L. Raisanen, the District 3 Engineer. A copy of that letter is also attached for your reference. Mr. Raisanen makes three points in his letter. One of these points concerns the length of the yellow lights on the TH 169 signals. He indicates that the yellow lights are set between 5 and 5lA seconds. According to studies, this is the amount of time needed for a 55 mph speed limit. As you are aware, the posted speed limit in this area is 45 mph, but the yellow lights are timed for a 55 mph travel speed. Basically, MnDOT does not believe that these need to be lengthened. The second point he makes is concerning the time for a pedestrian at-grade crossing of TH 169. He indicates that the signals are all set for approximately 40-43 seconds for pedestrian movements. This includes the "Walk" cycle, the flashing "Do Not Walk" cycle, and the yellow and the red time. MnDOT points out in their letter that this is in accordance with guidelines and that it should allow enough time to leisurely cross TH 169. Leisurely is assumed to be 4 feet per second. The last issue that Mr. Raisanen addresses is the speed limit issue. He references a letter written to Chief Zerwas on March 27, 1996. I believe that letter discussed the potential for actually raising the speed limit along this portion of TH 169. MnDOT indicates in their current letter that they will again review the speed limit, but they do not feel that speed was a contributing factor to either of the fatalities, and they do point out that over 90% of the vehicles now traveling the TH 169 corridor are doing so at faster than 45 m.p.h. Therefore, it may be hard to justify continuing the 45 m.p.h, speed limit and extending it further north. The other issues that were raised in my letter concerned a pedestrian overhead crossing, lighting of the highway between intersections, fencing of the highway between School Street and 197th Avenue, and the installation of signal warning flashers at each of the signals. Mr. Raisanen indicates in his letter that these items will be reviewed during their Annual Safety Program now underway. I understand that we should know by January 1997 what, if any, of these projects have been programed. If MnDOT programs any improvements it would likely be for FY 2000; however, I believe we could consider funding the programed improvement ourselves and get reimbursed in FY 2000. Also, if 230/347-1303.nov An Equal Opportunity Employer Honorable Mayor and City Council November 13, 1996 Page Two no projects are programed by MnDOT, we could still attempt a locally initiated project with MnDOT participation. Finally, Mr. Raisanen points out that Tom Dumont, Assistant District Traffic Engineer, located in St. Cloud, has been assigned to work with the City on these issues. I will keep in contact with Mr. Dumont regarding the status of the issues referred to in MnDOT's Annual Safety program. With regard to an overhead pedestrian crossing, we have done further research regarding several issues. The first pertains to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. There is no individual agency charged with enforcing the ADA standards. The most likely scenario would be if the City did not follow the ADA requirements, some individual may try to force the City to comply with the standards by filing suit against the City. Therefore, we would recommend that any pedestrian overpass have ramps meeting ADA requirements. These would dictate that ramps be at a 12:1 slope with a 5-foot landing for every 30" of rise. There is another requirement which eliminates the need for the landings, but lengthens the slope of the ramp to 20:1. One way to minimize the impact of the ADA requirements for ramping and the effect that this has on the cost of the structure is to try to pick a location where the landing point is already substantially higher than the highway, therefore minimizing the amount of ramping or allowing this area to be ramped using earth. We have looked at the TH 169 corridor between School Street and 197th, and the most likely location for minimizing the impact of ramps at each end would be somewhere on the water tower side. A pedestrian overpass at this location would run into the MnDOT property on the east side. Perhaps a small strip of property could be acquired on the south side of the MnDOT parcel to facilitate pedestrian movements back over to Dodge Avenue. There are several different styles and types of pedestrian overpass. Assuming a minimum width of 8 feet and a rather simple structure, the cost estimates for a overpass with full ramps on each side would be approximately $850,000. To locate it where earthen ramping could be accomplished would lower the cost to approximately $600,000. In addition to these estimated costs monies would have to be added for pedestrian pathways from Dodge on the east and Freeport on the west to the start of the pedestrian overpass. With regard to funding of a pedestrian overpass, the most likely candidate would be the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). As the City Council is aware, this is a rather competitive process where the City's project would be evaluated against other projects within the region and then also compete with projects State wide. We would certainly recommend that the City submit the overpass as a potential project, but we are really not very optimistic about it being funded in the near term. In our letter to MnDOT, we asked for their thoughts on fuming sources. Potentially, there may be some highway funding that could be combined with City funding to facilitate the project. We will have to wait until MnDOT responds regarding this issue. 230/347-1303.nov Honorable Mayor and City Council November 13, 1996 Page Three If we are to continue to pursue a pedestrian overpass, there are items we will need help with, specifically, what location would an overpass get the most use? Should it be closer to the School Street intersection, or farther north, connecting the residential neighborhood on the east with the commercial business on the west. Perhaps the neighborhood could provide valuable input into these issues. Our initial investigation into a concrete culvert underpass seems to indicate it would be more expensive because we could not open cut TH 169, not to mention other concerns such as safety. However, we will update the City Council on this type of crossing as more information becomes available. Finally, on Tuesday, November 12, 1996, Pat Klaers, City Administrator, and I met with Gary Dirlam, MnDOT Traffic Engineer, and Tom Dumont, MnDOT Assistant Traffic Engineer. They were in Elk River checking out the TH 169 corridor. In fact, they indicated they have already moved the southbound loop detectors further back on the Jackson/TH 169 signal. This should help with trucks running red lights by giving them more distance to stop. Tom Dumont indicated they will be checking all loop detectors and may move more of them further back. I will continue to keep the City Council updated as more information becomes available. If you have any questions, please call. Sincerely, MSA, CONSULTING ENGINEERS Terry J. Maurer, P.E. TJM:pd Attachments 347-1303.nov 230/347-1303.nov ~ONS[LTINGENGI~EER~ 1326 Energy Park Drive St. Paul, MN 55108 612-644-4389 b800-888-7923 Fax'. 612-6~4-9~6 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 Dear Mr. Raisanen: CIVIL ENGINEERING: ENVIRONMENTAL MUNIC!PAL PLANNING SOUD WASTE STRUCTURAL SURVEYING TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION E~CTRICAL/MECHANICAL ENGiNE]~ING: HVAC POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM CONTRGLS OFFiCE,S IN: MINNEAPOLIS PRIOR LAKE ST. PAUL WA.SECA 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 a~eement between District 3 and Metro District to cover the flashers until District 3 can do it themselves. An Equal Opportunity Employer Mr. Donald: 2.aisanen October 29, 1996 Page Two 2. Speed Limit Again by City ~i..ouncil 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 Jackson/197th Avenues, but also south to Main Street and north to 197th Avenue. 6. 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. 7. 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 ~een light time for these pedestrian movements? Mr. Donald I 'aisanen 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 Terry J."Maurer, P.E. City Engineer TJM:tw Attachment CC: Mayor and City Council Pat Klaers, City Administrator Gary Dh'lam, District 3 Traffic Engineer 347-2903.oct ~.o. I rattic Situation ",n Hiahwoy 169 6.1. Mayor Duitsman indicated his concern regarding the running of yellow lights on Highway 169 and 193'~ Avenue. Mayor Duitsman requesied the City Engineer lo look into the possibility of installing flashing warning lights on Highway 169 to warn drivers that a green ligh! 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 lime, has not aulhorized the installation. Terry Maurer indicated thai he would continue to work wilh MnDOT regarding lhis issue. COUNClLMEMBER FARBER MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY ENGINEER TO INFORM MNDOT OF THE CITY COUNCIL'S SUPPORT OF THE INSTALLATION OF FLASHING LIGHTS ON HIGHWAY 169 NORTH AND SOUTHBOUND FROM MAIN STREET TO 1 AVENUE. COUNCILMEMBER HOLMGREN SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Councilmember Dietz indicated his concern regarding the speed limit on Highway 169 to 1~)3,~ 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 169 FROM SCHOOL STREET NORTH UP TO 197'm AVENUE ON BOTH NORTH AND SOUTHBOUND LANES. COUNCIl. MEMBER 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 16~). 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 F.qgineer study the possibility of lengthening the time of the green light to assist people in crossing Highway 169. AT&T Wireless Service Rec~uest for Zone Chanqe, Public Headnq Case No. ZC 96-17 AT&T Wireless Service Reauest for Conditional Use Permit, Public Hearinq 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 oveday district and conditional use permit is east of Highway 10. south of 175th Avenue alignment, and west of the Burlington Northern railroad tracks. Steve Ach reviewed the staff report on both of these issues. Minnesota Department of Transportation ~'(~~~~ District 3 1991 Industrial Park Road Baxter, MN 56401 November 7, 1996 Tel: 218/828-2460 Fax: 218/828-2210 Toll Free: 1/800/657-3971 Mr. Terry J. Maurer MSA Consulting Engineers 1326 Energy Park Drive St. Paul, MN 55108 Dear Mr. Maurer: RE: C.S. 7106 (T.H. 169) Elk River Thank you for your letter dated October 30, 1996, addressing the safety concerns on Trunk Highway (T.H.) 169 through the City of Elk River. We are aware of the two fatalities that have occurred within the past two months and share your safety concerns along this stretch of highway. As you know, Mn/DOT prides itself in continually striving to improve the safety of our highways through operations, maintenance, and construction projects. On occasion, when a fatality does occur, a review of the accident and contributing factors is conducted to see if improvement to the roadway system is needed. An in-depth review of the fatalities on T.H. 169 is currently taking place. I would like to address the issues of your letter that we are presently reviewing for possible immediate action and then address the remaining issues that need more discussion. >> Length of Yellow Lights There are statewide timing guidelines that govern interval timing. Two variables, speed and grade, influence length of yellow. At 85 percentile speed of 55 miles per hour and level grade, it is recommended to be 5.0 seconds. Main and School Streets are set at 5.0 Seconds. Jackson Street is programmed at 5.5 seconds due to somewhat higher speed and southbound downgrade. Studies have shown that yellow times longer than guidelines entice drivers to run yellow intervals. We feel the current settings are most favorable (the yellow is timed for 55 miles per hour while the actual posted speed is 45 miles per hour) and are in compliance with Statewide timing guidelines. >> At-Grade Pedestrian Crossing We time our pedestrian intervals to allow for someone to cross the entire roadway within one pedestrian cycle. A pedestrian cycle consists of a brief walk period, followed by a flashing don't walk period of time. The total time available to cross is 40, 41, and 43 seconds for Main, Jackson, and School Streets respectively. These times include "Walk," flashing "Do Not Walk," yellow, and red times. Again, these times are in accordance with guidelines and do allow adequate time to safely cross T.H. 169 at a leisurely pace (approximately 4 feet per second). My experience has shown this is more of an education issue than improper timing.. The walk is just intended to "get people wa/ting" offthe curb; the" flashing" don't walk is intended to get pedestrians all the way across prior to the steady don't walk indication. We have provided education materials to Keli Olin on this and supplied Keli with a contact from the Department of Public Safety (Wayne Rebischke; 1-800-630-0271) t° help in this endeavor. An equal opportunity employer Mr. Terry Maurer November 7, 1996 Page 2 >> Speed Limit The city knows our position on this issue by Mn/DOT letter to Tom Zerwas, Police Chief, dated March 27, 1996. All indications are that speeds were not a contributing factor in the' fatalities. We will again review the 45 mile per hour zone for an extension to the north; although when over 90% of vehicles are presently traveling faster than 45 miles per hour, it will be difficult to justify. Due to development, additional speed checks are being taken for comparison to prior study. In addition to the above items, we are in the process of completing a signal coordination project that should help vehicle progression through town and reduce the number of stops; thereby, reducing the frequency of running red lights. We are also relocating a couple of vehicle detectors for southbound T.H. 169 at Jackson Street in an effort to give trucks more time to respond to signal changes. Other locations are also being analyzed for relocation. The other issues of concern -- pedestrian overhead crossing, lighting, signal warning flashers, and fencing will be reviewed during our annual safety program currently in progress. We feel these areas have some potential and are willing to work with the city on these issues. We, at Mn/DOT, pride ourselves in delivering a safe, cost effective roadway system and are saddened when a fatality or serious accident occurs. We continuously monitor our state highways for safety improvements and every year identify projects for safety improvements; unfortunately, not all projects can be funded. Tom Dumont, Assistant District Traffic Engineer in St. Cloud, has been assigned to work with you and the city to address the safety concerns on T.H. 169. Tom's phone number is 320-654-5105. Again, thank you for sharing the city's concern for T.H. 169. Sincerely, )TD~nal~d L.~aisanen ansportation District Engineer cc: Senator Mark Ourada - 145 State Office Bldg. Pat Klaers - City Administrator G.N.Kreutzer Rick Arnebeck Gary Dirlam Mike Travis Tom Davidson/L. Skudlarek nder-represent- ture of Rachel rant in the deci- .cone from the i1 the more true are well repre- ~cmbers, Otsego low that Mary vice. His candi- fiver Education. of the people in 4 members have · make decisions. practice, it is not in its wisdom ~ and south, and ,~ better plan had ~ds to be repre- accept the posi- herman needs to and didn't hana ou~ one brochure. Her winning s~rategy was not announcing her with- drawal in time to get her name off the ballot. For who among the 4,518 voters could resist that last name of Swanson? Or maybe people like the first name of Mary Jo. Or just maybe her initials MJ are appealing. Now, I happen to know Mary Jo Swanson, who is a Now, one coma raum~auzu all these votes by saying some voted to send her a message, but not 4,518. One has to conclude, oh so reluctantly, that many who voted just didn't realize she had withdrawn her name as a candidate. As an editor, we probably should have written a story and a big headline on page - one the week before the dec- tion: "Mary Jo Swanson is not · a candidate for the school Commissioner Mike Johnson. A name like Johnson has to be good for a fifl~ term. Now had her name been Rachel Swanson, she would have had a better chance at defeating a Johnson. Now, if all that is logical, how do you explain that Mary McDevitt Kraljic led the school board ticket with 4,867 votes? Or better yet, how did P. at Adkins, son of the well=known Mary Jo Swanson won even though shewithdrew her nam~ former Sen. Betty Adkins, ever lose to a person by the name of Mark Ourada?~ · And speaking of names,' were you surprised that aguy named Charlie Finck picked up 6,134 votes? Letters to the Editor Re-examine traffic' light system in Elk River its crossing, and all local traf- you are stopped at a t~affic I do not condone peoPle dri- ring through red lights. But I · do not condone a-traffic sys- tem where the main artery (Highway 10) has light changes that last less than a minute. What is happening is the same thing that happened with prohibition. Those who thought the law was silly ignored the law. Laws (includ- ing traffic lights) need to be reasonable to be respected. The current setup of traffic lights in Elk River needs to be re-examined. -- Maynard Oss, Elk River Two recent editions of your newspaper have emphasized the amount of ticketing by the police of people driving through red lights. We have been paying special attention to the traffic light situation and can report the following: 1) On Monday morning of this week I was the first vehi- cle going east on Highway 10 stopped for the traffic light. There was a train going east to west. The light remained red for the entire time the train was using the crossing. Only aider the train completed tic was out of the intersection did the light permit Highway 10 traffic to proceed. Two vehi- des at my lei~ "ran the light" while waiting for the light to change. 2) Last Thursday I was the third vehicle westbound stopped for the traffic light on Highway 10 and Proctor Avenue. The light changed to green and I entered the inter- section on yellow. Two cars behind me entered the inter- section on red. What is the normal driving response when light and it turns green? You watch for other cars or pedes- trians that might be crossing against red. You certainly are not watching the light, expect- ing another change within 15 to 20 seconds. 3) Last Friday I was the fourth westbound vehicle stopped .at Highway 10 and Jackson Avenue. The light changed green. The car ahead of me entered the intersection on yellow. I had to jam on my brakes. That green light last- ed much less than 30 seconds. Elk River mUst act now to ensure safety for residents way. There will. always be pedestrians and vehicles. But unlike Highw,ay 10.,.,Highway from ~ a long-standing resident established as a danger zone S of Elk River and a friend of the for our residents and the Twaddle family, I find it neces- unsuspecting traveler. Tragic sary to speak out on beh_nlf of losses of a mother and then a [~_~ . safety in put c0. ~nunu~ty:~It's:~ .young~,teen ,within a: mogth; · ~ ..... ~,,~,,¥~,:~~bld~but,very,sertous new~ o~ti~kls .new. light-on th~ ,~,':.,~,:~a ^~,l~, ~ffitk River's growing p. ail!.t, be for eh~n~e;: '"~ : ~' [~:~.~U~blU~:=~ ~Jl [~ll~~' ' ........ '- ' ~ , , ~ it in our schools or on our Much like Highway 10, oe removea irom roads. And although Highway Highway 169 divides our priate and not in 169 has longbeen regarded as town. We have residents and subjected to- the the main artery north, it now stores on each side of the high- ,md rely on caring- suffers from new problems. sums needed to with the added attractions of ,, ~. ~ ~ ~ ~ cshouping and dining, sur- co-exist and avoid unneces- apparatus both south and sary loss of life, I urge the city north of area in question, engineers, the City Council drawing and MnDOT to consider the immediate attention to all followi ....... ..~ :,travelers of speed ~limits, ' '*,Rec0m~nded'-'~' ,;;~HangeS[~,rnefglng ~traffic,-~,,pedestrmns sh0.uld involve the ,highway~,~,LT~ ~_.:,. i ~ co'~rid°~ of 169, between Ron's .business area. Foods and Menards. Increase law enforcement · Suggested reduction of on all violations. speed limits (35-40 mph). There have been many tears · Installation of suitable from your residents and time highway illumination lamps is needed to recover. Yet Elk throughout area in question. River must act now to ensure *, .........at~ ...... ~ ~,~,-,;. ~fotv fc~r both our residents 212tt police count the 1 van. Insu[ legiti, ?oli~ insur clairr The in El year- sick. Her who anyo The polic ents , not strm Star polic was he ! hous ',. Zer hom One ~nd nd but i '~Zer · torf the, cale like cies Sch vie: D~