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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 23, 2006 Page 5 1 Silver Lake Road and may merge or weave into the through and left -turn lanes that already have 2 a significant backup of vehicles. This may cause blocking of the right -turn lane and will further 3 degrade the operation of Silver Lake Road. 4 5 As this intersection becomes more congested, it is likely that southbound vehicles on Silver Lake 6 Road will try to avoid the long queues and squeeze into the single through lane at the intersection 7 of 37th Avenue N.E. rather than waiting at the end of the queue. This will create safety problems 8 and possible blockage of the right -turn lane. 9 10 Northbound traffic that backs up on Silver Lake Road south of 370' Avenue N.E. will be longer 11 and could potentially block 366h Avenue N.E. The queue will be longer with only one through 12 lane southbound because more green light time will be needed for southbound traffic on Silver 13 Lake Road to minimize the length of the southbound backup on Silver Lake Road. 14 15 The additional delays and congestion expected with only one southbound through lane may 16 cause drivers to cut through local residential streets to avoid the 37a` Avenue N.E. and Silver 17 Lake Road intersection. The streets in these residential areas are not equipped to handle the 18 additional traffic. Mr. Heppelmann said this is not going to happen immediately, but over the 19 next 10 years as developments are built and traffic grows these problems will begin. 20 21 Councilmember Gray indicated this assumes there are no changes to people's driving habits or 22 mass transit. Mr. Heppelmann said no assumptions were built in for mass transit. The project 23 team believes their forecasts are on the low side. 24 25 Councilmember Gray stated the chart indicates there is more of a p.m. problem than an a.m. 26 problem. Mr. Heppelmann and the project team were surprised to see the problem in the a.m. but 27 there is a greater problem in p.m. Councihnember Gray asked if the assumption is that people 28 will not be diverted to County Road 88 or 35W. With the progression and use of letter grades, it 29 looks like the current option, will be a problem after 2027. Mr. Heppelmann believes people will 30 try to avoid backups in traffic and find their shortcuts. He stated the project team did not look 31 past 2027. Traffic volumes could reach a level E as regional systems fill up and 35W may 32 become more congested and other streets might be the least congested. It is hard to predict what 33 will happen. 34 35 Councilmember Thuesen asked Mr. Heppelmann to define "level of services" and "vehicle 36 queuing" for the audience. Mr. Heppelmann explained that "level of services" is the average 37 vehicle delay at an intersection. He defined "queuing" as vehicles stopped at an intersection or 38 waiting for a stopped vehicle, how far back they are waiting, and how many vehicles are stored 39 in the left turn lane. 40 41 Councilmember Stille asked how many cycles a southbound car will sit through. According to 42 Mr. Heppelmann, the project team's research indicated drivers often waited through two red 43 lights. 44 45 In closing, based on the new analysis performed by the project team, Hennepin County 46 recommends maintaining the geometrics presented in the preliminary analysis of February 14, 47 2006. The recommendation is to continue two southbound lanes and transition with safer