03-11-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Marc A. Johannsen Council Members Gerald J. Auge Terry S. Nyblom Craig A. Johnson Bob B. Fletcher March 5, 2015 Governor Mark Dayton State Capitol Suite 130 75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd St Paul, MN 55155 RE: Rice Street Bridge (Bridge #6580) over 1-694, Ramsey County, MN Dear Governor Dayton: The City of Vadnais Heights 800 East County Road E Vadnais Heights, MN 55127 Phone: 651.204.6000 Fax: 651,204,6100 1 am writing to ask that you reconsider your decision to omit the Rice Street Bridge over I-694 (46580) from the list of projects to be completed in the next ten years. The City of Vadnais Heights is particularly disappointed with this omission, This bridge is a bottleneck for the entire region and causes significant slow -downs both on 694 and over 694. All of the bridges in the corridor, both east and west of Rice Street, have been changed starting with the Unweave the Weave project and continuing with the significant changes to the west. We understand that the Corridors of Commerce funding will be adding a third lane in each direction on 1-694 between Rice St. and Lexington Ave. While this is needed and appreciated, it will not fix the problem. During rush hour, traffic becomes congested on the on -ramps and the bridge itself, forcing vehicles to back up on I-694 and Rice Street. Further, the area under the bridge is narrow and will have limited space after the adding of the other lane. The current bridge fails in its ability to get our residents and businesses to and from their destinations, it fails our neighboring communities in the same respect, and it fails the region in getting vehicles through our communities in a timely manner. Further, by not fixing this bridge, the significant improvements both east and west of the bridge are wasted because the traffic comes to a virtual standstill in this area many hours of the day. The Rice Street Bridge project has been formally discussed since the 1990's because the bridge is obsolete and causes a bottleneck. The bridge has needed to be improved for twenty years but no action has been taken. To wait at least another ten years for this bridge to be replaced is not acceptable. This bridge needs to be expanded to address current traffic volumes and to proactively address the inevitable significant increase in traffic over coming years. We ask you to reconsider your transportation plan and prioritize the Rice Street Bridge for funding in your priority list of projects. 2