01-08-2020 Special Meeting Packet (Improvement Hearings)

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator Bill Dircks, Public Works Director DATE: January 8, 2019 RE: Allen Avenue Improvement Hearing Allen Avenue is scheduled for a full-depth reclamation and curb repair from Centerville Road to Edgerton Street in 2020 pending the outcome of the improvement hearing on January 8, 2020. There are a couple of unique features that will be discussed at the improvement hearing. One is the addition of sidewalk on the South side of Allen Avenue and the other is the proposed removal of the islands at the intersections with Centerville Road and Desoto Street. Some additional information and talking points on each of these topics is included below. Sidewalk The approved Park System Master Plan includes a Trails and Sidewalks Priority Map for Little Canada. The map includes a sidewalk on Allen Avenue between Centerville and Desoto. This would provide a connection between the existing sidewalks on Centerville and Desoto and provide a nice, off-street area for residents to walk safely. In the future, this sidewalk will likely connect to the trail under the powerlines once it is added west of Payne Avenue to connect Thunder Bay Park with Pioneer Park. The City’s preferred sidewalk layout includes a minimum of a five-foot buffer of grass between the back of curb and the sidewalk. This provides snow storage and a nice separation of pedestrians and vehicles. It is difficult to maintain grass at a width less than five feet so if the sidewalk needs to be closer to the street due to design/engineering issues then the layout includes a two-foot buffer strip of concrete between the back of curb and the sidewalk. This method has been used along Little Canada Road near McMenemy Street and Rice Street from County Road B to County Road B2. A preliminary look at the south side of Allen for potential sidewalk showed that including the five-foot buffer may require retaining walls and the potential removal of mature trees. Another option is to locate the sidewalk at the back of curb with a two-foot concrete buffer strip. A two-foot buffer results in the south edge of the sidewalk being eight feet off of the curb. This would leave approximately 34 feet from the south edge of the sidewalk to the townhomes located along the south side of Allen Avenue. In looking at the distance of sidewalk to homes along other sidewalk segments in the City, 34 feet seems to be about the average distance. The shortest gap is sixteen feet for one house on Centerville Road. The houses along the south side of Little Canada Road just east of 35E are between 24 and 28 feet from the sidewalk. And the Parkview townhomes along Little Canada Road are about 32 feet from the sidewalk.