01-10-2018 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 10, 2018 PUBLIC Beth Engum, Ramsey County Project Manager, stated that when Rice HEARING: RICE Street was turned back to the County from MNDOT in 1999, the State STREET/I-694 agreed to replace the bridge over I-694, but it was not a priority for the BRIDGE PROJECT State. She noted that MNDOT has $3 million programmed in 2026 MUNICIPAL towards the bridge replacement. She explained that Rice Street does not CONSENT operate very well in the I-694 area, and a community survey was conducted and 86% of respondents stated there needed to be improvements or reconstruction. Since Rice Street is an old trunk highway, there is limited right-of-way, so doing any road widening will impact adjacent businesses. Ms. Engum explained that they have considered over 20 different interchange alternatives, and settled on a round -a -bout design. She stated that round -a -bouts are safer ways to move traffic since people must slow down to negotiate them. She stated that the proposed improvements are expected to cost $31.1 million, which includes construction, right-of-way acquisition, and the engineering for design and construction, and the project is now fully funded. She stated that the County is asking for $1.6 million from the three adjacent cities, but the cities can use municipal state aid fund for their respective amounts. Ms. Engum explained that the local funds allocated are based on the County's cost participation policy for construction costs and design/construction engineering. She stated that based on the policy, Little Canada's city contribution is $241,938. Ms. Engum stated that they want to get a contractor on board by late 2018 so they can start working on certain improvements over the winter, which will give a head start on the project and less disruption on Rice Street. She explained that municipal consent is being requested from Shoreview, Vadnais Heights and Little Canada. Shoreview has granted consent. Montour noted that Caribou Coffee and Taco Johns are really the only Little Canada business that will be impacted, since they will lose their full access to Rice Street. Ms. Engum noted that Caribou will still be able to have a right -in right -out on Rice Street. The City Administrator noted that Little Canada's $242,000 portion is in the infrastructure budget for 2019. Council Member Fischer stated that this design is really the only viable option and he approves. 2