04-14-2004 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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III. Along the north side of I -694 from the BNSF Railroad Bridge to station 2041 +50 where it connects to the proposed wall in Vadnais Heights as depicted on your plans dated July 24, 2003. Deletions — Little Canada requests the deletion of the two noise walls proposed along Country Drive. One is in front of two single- family homes in an area slated for redevelopment. The other is in front of a multi - family apartment complex. This wall will be a visual distraction and provide minimal benefit to the community. Design — Little Canada requests input into the design of the noise walls to be constructed within our corporate boundaries. We further acknowledge that cooperation with the City of Vadnais Heights is necessary to maintain aesthetic consistency between the two communities. We specifically request that the design incorporate the principles of the I -694 Aesthetic Design Guidelines dated August of 2002 including varying the height of the walls as well as the inclusion of horizontal steps to provide space for landscape opportunities. Lastly, we want assurances that sufficient funds for landscaping along the non - freeway side of the walls in areas that are visible from the public right -of -way will be available within six months of the completion of wall construction in order to fully complete this project component. 2) Freeway Lighting — The City of Little Canada would like to review and approve the type and location of any freeway surface lighting. We are concerned about light pollution and the impact on our residents. 3) Vehicle Light Screening — MnDot shall provide some form of screening measures along I -694 northwest bound "fly -over bridge" side barriers to diffuse any headlight glare into Little Canada and Vadnais Heights. 4) Little Canada Road Bridge — Since the proposed project includes this section of I -35E but does not modify the existing bridge, the City of Little Canada requests that chain link railing be removed and replaced with a more ornamental type of railing and that lighting be upgraded in a manner consistent with the I -694 Aesthetic Design Guidelines. We understand that MnDot does not have any work on this bridge programmed into the budget, but we firmly believe it should be added at this time as it is well within the project's boundaries and would lend consistency to the bridges in the project area. 5) Traffic Mitigation — As stated many times, we are concerned about the impact this project will have on traffic flow through our community. We are anticipating major wear on city and county roads that is not being address. In addition, formal and informal detour routes need to be determined and appropriate funding provided to address any modifications needed to safely route traffic and minimize impacts to Little Canada. Some areas are turn lanes at Little Canada Road and Edgerton Street, the possibility of signalizing that intersection, resetting the signals along Little Canada Road, measures we can take to minimize unnecessary traffic through residential neighborhoods (motorists looking for shortcuts off of LaBore, Edgerton, etc. when those streets become congested). We request that MnDot cooperate fully with the City of Little Canada and Ramsey County to take whatever steps are reasonably appropriate to mitigate the impacts of formal and informal detour traffic through our community. -2-