02-08-2006 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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(6+ j 2W14 ceeweeek M4YOR 13111 Biesener COUNCIL Jim LaValle Rick Montour Barbara Allan John Keis 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117" 1600 ADMINISTRATOR (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766 -4048 Joel R. Hanson www.ci.little- canada.mn.us MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener & Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: February 3, 2006 RE: Rice Street Bridge over Hwy 36 & Possible Park Ride at County Rd B & Rice Last fall, the City Council passed a resolution requesting that Metro Transit conduct a traffic study of the County Road B /Rice Street /Hwy 36 /Viking Drive area before proceeding with their proposed Parlc & Ride facility to be located at the NE corner of County Road B and Rice Street on excess MnDot land (excess Hwy 36 right -of -way). The Cities of Roseville and Maplewood passed similar resolutions. Since then, we have learned that the traffic analysis done by Metro Transit's consultants only consider the impact of the proposed Park & Ride on each intersection on an individual basis. According to Dan Soler, Ramsey County Traffic Engineer, all intersections would need to have been considered on an interrelated basis for the study to have validity. Therefore, the results that the individual intersections were performing poorly understated the true situation whereby the entire area fails miserably from a traffic management standpoint. To add a new 300 to 400 car Park & Ride facility would only serve to exacerbate an already bad situation. Another factor to consider is St. Jude Medical's concern over the proposed Park and Ride and its potential impact on traffic flow to their facilities on County Road B and County Road B2. This concern is discussed in the attached letter they sent to Govemor Pawlenty. Transit is evaluating possible measures to mitigate the impact of the Park & Ride (may include a lane addition south of County Road B). If the project proceeds, it appears that design wouldn't be complete until late summer with bidding in the fall. Construction is not likely to commence until 2007. Metro Transit officials have also assured us that no decisions will be made to move forward until the impacted jurisdictions have a chance to comment. Lastly, Representative Scalze has been diligently working to obtain funding for the design of a new Rice Street bridge over Highway 36. Currently, reconstruction of this bridge is not on Ramsey County or MuDot's radar due to a lack of funding. (That means construction isn't likely until 2020 or later under current conditions.) By obtaining funding for the design of a new - 1 -