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interchange, three of the ramps have 16 foot lanes with a 2 foot inside shoulder and a 2.5 foot outside shoulder. The southeast exit ramp was recently widened to two 12 foot lanes and 2 foot shoulders to provide additional storage for vehicles waiting to access CSAH 14. The north ramps connect with I -35E approximately 1,500 feet north of CSAH 14. The southeast ramp exits I -35E approximately 1,500 south of CSAH 14. The southwest ramp enters I -35E approximately 3,700 feet south of CSAH 14. See Figure 2. Project Need Need for the project is identified in the Anoka County Highway Department Five Year Highway Improvement Plans: 2005 -2009 and 2007 -2011, and the City of Lino Lakes I -35E Corridor Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) for the northeast corner of the city, which is approximately 4,500 acres in size. Specific needs identified for this area include: • Provide capacity to address the growing transportation needs associated with the current and long -term development in the Cities of Lino Lakes and eastern Anoka County area. • Improve safety in the vicinity of the interchange. Currently, traffic queues back onto I -35E during the afternoon peak rush hour presenting significant safety issues due to the high speed of traffic along I -35E. • Provide system continuity along CSAH 14. Improvements to CSAH 14 to both the west and east will be connected by the interchange project. Currently, the CSAH 14 & I -35E interchange is experiencing poor levels of service in the morning and afternoon peak periods. With continued development in the area, congestion is expected to worsen. With a single lane in each direction, the existing interchange creates a bottleneck for traffic along the multi -lane CSAH 14 both east and west of I -35E. The existing ramp intersections along CSAH 14 are controlled with stop signs and create significant delays both along CSAH 14 as well as the exit ramps resulting in traffic queuing onto I -35E in the afternoon peak hour. In addition, traffic control at the ramp intersections is necessary to accommodate Eagle Brook Church services on Sunday mornings as well as other special events at the Eagle Brook campus. CSAH 14 & I -35E Interchange Project Feasibility Study July 2009 Page 4