11/18/2009 P&Z Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning & Zoning Board November 18, 2009 Page 4 APPROVED MINUTES A vehicle trace study was conducted and results sho wed that the majority of traffic on CSAH 34 has a local purpose. Traffic modeling resolved that improvements to Coun ty Road J would have little impact on CSAH 34 traffic volumes. Additional capacity on County Road J will not redue the need for CSAH 34 improvements. Proposed corridor improvements will be staged over the next 20+ years. Improvement sequencing will be triggered by safety and capacity needs, amount of corridor development, available funding, and benefits from i nterim improvements. Possible staging scenarios were discussed. County access spacing guidelines were discussed. S afety benefits such as raised medians and two-way left-turn lanes were considered. Mr. Shorten described access modification strategie s. A set of guidelines was developed to determine when access modification will be under taken. Access modification guidelines include: 1. Raised medians constructed with all new traffic sig nals 2. Painted medians and turn lanes will be used until o therwise necessary 3. Raised medians implemented more extensively with ne w road construction 4. Painted medians used until issues require the exten sion of the raised medians Current access will be maintained until traffic, sa fety and congestion needs arise or as improvements are constructed. Jack Corkle stated that feedback has shown that res idents do not want to see a four-lane roadway overnight. Residents want a gradual increa se of change only as it becomes necessary. This corridor offers more flexibility than many other in the twin cities area, with different funding sources. Without available money, improvements will need to be made in stages. In areas where there is not an ant iciped area of change in development, improvements can be staged to the future. Ms. Corkle explained that cities and counties have no authority to change speed limits. Birch Street is currently set at 50 mph and was pre viously 55 mph. An 85 th percentile of current traffic speed is what is used to set or cha nge a speed limit. It is anticpated that the speed will drop on the western end with an increase of traffic. Ms. Corkle discussed the funding process, explainin g that it is hard to get money right now. The county applies for grants to fund many of its projects. A Highway Safety Improvement Program offers up to two million dollar s, but is competitive throughout the metro area. As part of the process, they must go t hrough a benefit cost analysis, which is based on crash history, the number and severity of crashes. There needs to be a number