Minutes - 2006/05/08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council May 8, 2006 Regular Meeting Page 4 Community Center. She stressed it is more important than ever to provide a safe way to cross the 1 road. 2 3 Ms. Rolfs asked the Council to reintroduce the component in some way and to look at it seriously 4 to provide a safe crossing. 5 6 Councilmember Thomas noted that the Council dealt with this issue significantly in the past, and 7 it was not just a financial issue, but a space issue, due to the amount of room a pedestrian bridge 8 would require on both sides of the corridor. She stated there is no place to construct the bridge, 9 and businesses would have to be bought out to do so. She stated that the really busy places are 10 not places that a pedestrian bridge can be used. 11 12 Councilmember Gunn recalled one location was from Mounds View Square to the library which 13 was going to take up a huge chunk of the parking lot and over where the empty land is by the 14 library. She stated there is a huge amount of space needed to install a pedestrian bridge with 15 ramps. 16 17 Ms. Rolfs wondered if Edgewood has been seriously considered. Councilmember Thomas 18 replied that some of the usages have changed on the corridor, and it is worth looking into, but it 19 comes down to not being a workable solution because of space. 20 21 Ms. Rolfs stated it is important to make sure all options are truly exhausted before chalking it up 22 to be difficult or expensive. She stated it is that important to address in the long range vision. 23 She stated there is just not an error proof way to cross right now, and leaves too much up to 24 individual driver attentiveness, equipment failure or the individual walkers or bikers. 25 26 Mayor Marty commented that Channel 9 News recently did a special investigative report on 27 crosswalks and how they varied. He stated the City has been looking at crosswalks for awhile, 28 and the story gave some good ideas and examples. He stated the report ended with saying that 29 for those communities that felt that the amount of time to cross the street is not adequate, that 30 MnDOT can be petitioned, and that the City of Mounds View did just that to extend all crossing 31 times for every intersection on County Highway 10. He noted a printout of the article was 32 received from Channel 9, and a copy of the videotape has been requested by Staff. 33 34 Mayor Marty explained Director of Public Works Lee has been mulling over some possibilities 35 as far as safety in the crossings. Mayor Marty noted he would like to see some of these ideas and 36 this videotape presented at a future Work Session. He stated the City cannot spend enough time 37 trying to make the intersections and crossings safer. He stated County Highway 10 runs for a 38 long stretch through Mounds View, and not even two pedestrian bridges could be installed. He 39 stated he would like to look into how much space would be needed, and possible costs. 40 41 Director of Public Works Lee stated he could present some of these ideas at a Work Session. 42 43