Agenda Packets - 2000/12/04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I. Overview Background The City of Mounds View, Minnesota, is requesting proposals from qualified firms to serve as design consultant to develop and recommend a specific County Highway 10 Corridor Reconstruction and Revitalization Plan. As perhaps the most dominant physical feature of the City, the Highway 10 corridor has influenced traffic patterns and adjacent land use for many years. Originally designed to serve as a rural highway, Highway 10 continues to function as a major thoroughfare for traffic traveling to and from the northwest metropolitan area. Mounds View citizens have expressed concerns about the speed of vehicles traveling Highway 10 and the safety of pedestrians along the highway for many years. The recent death of a Mounds View youth, struck while crossing the highway, has amplified these concerns and renewed the call for an action plan to address highway safety and other issues. Highway 10 has been the focus of substantial studies examining various options to enhance the corridor’s safety and address related issues including the community’s appearance and identity, preserving environmental resources, and encouraging economic development. While Highway 10 was under the jurisdiction of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), city officials had only limited opportunities to address these issues. However, a new segment of U.S. 10 opened in 1999, followed by the State’s turn-back of old Highway 10—running through Mounds View, Spring Lake Park, and Blaine—to Ramsey and Anoka counties. This turn-back offers the City of Mounds View an unprecedented opportunity to define and guide the future of the Highway 10 Corridor, in conjunction with Ramsey County. Questions the design consultant will be asked to address in the reconstruction plan are: 1. What can be done along the Highway 10 corridor to increase pedestrian and traffic safety? 2. What can be done to change the appearance of the Highway 10 corridor from a freeway to a community boulevard and enhance community identity? 3. What can be done with the Highway 10 corridor to encourage economic development? Basic City Information Mounds View has been a municipal corporation since 1958. The City operates under a Home Rule Charter, which was adopted in 1979. The Charter was most recently amended on March 14, 1998. The City is governed by a Mayor and four City Council members, all of whom are elected at large. The Council employs a City Administrator who is responsible for administering Council policy and managing City business on a daily basis.