11-26-2003 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 2G, 2003 Soler reported that the County has budgeted $300,000 for the upgrade of this intersection. Paflco reported that MN DOT is about five weeks away from knowing if the project will be funded. Soler pointed out that this intersection already takes traffic from 35E/694 any time there is a problem on the freeway. Therefore, the reconstruction of the County Road E/Highway 61 intersection is already needed. Pafko stated that the intersection will be reconsUUCted the way it should be. The Administrator pointed out that traffic will be coming through Little Canada. Rice Street will not be able to handle the increased capacity due to the bridge replacement not occurring, and there will be increased traffic on LaBore Road, Edgerton Street, and residential neighborhood streets. The Administrator asked if the traffic light sequencing on Little Canada Road and 35E could be reviewed to see if any improvements can be made. The Administrator felt that Little Canada residents should not have to bear the burden of the increased traffic nor the cost of improvements for handling this traffic. Pafko stated that the law limits MN DOT's spending, and they cannot spend dollars offthe highway system unless it is for designated detour improvements. County ;Road E is the detour route. Anderson asked if Little Canada could be reimbursed for increased policing costs as a result of increased public safety calls because of the additional trafftc. Pafko replied that he was aware of no mechanism for reimbursing the City for these costs. The Administrator asked if there was only one designated detour per project. Paflco replied that there will be some temporary detours when they are taking down bridge sections. County Road E, however, will be the designated detour for the Unweave the Weave project. LaValle asked about getting information out to the public about alternate routes. Pafko replied that they will be doing a public information campaign to let people know what is coming so they can look for alternate routes. However, only one detour will be posted. Pafko agreed that MN DOT can look at the timing of traff c signals to determine if there is a way to improve timing to move traffic quicker. Soler indicated that with freeway projects there are two different types of notifications that will need to be made to drivers. The first is getting information out about alternate routes so some traffic will completely reroute. The second is information about traffic accidents on the freeway,