City Council Minutes 10-09-2000 InformationalMINUTES
COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETLN(:
CSAH 75 IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Octubcr 9, 2000 - 5:30 p.m.
Melllbers Present: Roger Belsaas, Clint Herbst, Brian Stumpf and
Bruce l~hiclen.
Members Absent: Koger Carlson
Staff & Others Present.: C"Ity AdI111I11St1"atol", R-ck WOlfsteller', PLlbll(: Works Director, .lolln
Sinlola, Deputy City Administrator, Jetf•O' Neill, ECOnOn11C
Development Director, Ollie Koropchak, Wright County I lighway
Engineer, Wayne F~'ingalson, Assistant Wright County Highway
Engineer, Virgil I lawkins, and representatives lrom the Wright
C~Otrllty Shel"Iff s DCpartfllellt, Gary Miller and Dennis C:'o111pton.
"I'he purpose of the workshop meeting was to study dcsigll options For the proposed improvements to
CrySAI 17,5. Becky 1-lauschild from WSB and Associates, Inc. reviewed projected traffic volunncs for
CSAI 175. One set of projections was done based on the crssLrnlptl0n that the City would have ill place
the h'allon Avenue Bridge, the partial interchange at CSAH 18, the 7'I' Str•cet connection to CSAI-1 75
and t11c 7`~' StI"4'et L'Onlleetloll fI"OrTI Mlmlesot[r Street to Elm Street. The other set of projections was
done based on the ('ity having none of the reliever streets listed above in place. IZepl-esentatives
fro-11 the. Wright County Sheriff's Department <:Ilso presented infor111ation on traffic counts they had
done on Broadway.
Becky Hauschild also submitted information on the nurnbcr and severity of crashes that 11avc
occurred on the roadway and reviewed some of the problems with the existing roadway. After tllc
informational meeting on September 2S, 2000 the City's engineering firm came up with two
altern~.ttives for CSAH 75. One was for a three lane design with a left tl.lrn lane and the other was a
five lane design. IJacll of the proposed designs was reviewed. Bret Weiss fro111 WSB chi Associates
lelt that the three lane design is a Short term solution. 171e engineering lir-r11 presented information
on a traffic peak hour' analysis which simulated how the existing 4 lane, the proposed ;lane with left
turn lanes and the proposed five lane would handle estimated traffic volunlcs for years 2000, 2010
and 2020 and the level of safety for each of the roadway designs at the various levels of~traffic
vo1u111c.
Since safety issues were a prime consideration. "this factor wars looked at for each design. 'l,he
existing lour lade roadway which allows for parking on the shoulder has no left turn protection which
tends to create conditions Ior rear end crashes and erratic lane changes in order to avoid vehicles
making Icft turns. `f•he proposed three lane roadway with left ttrrrl lanes would allow left turn
protection, reduce the incidence of erratic lane changes and parking along the street would remain.
However, the capacity of the roadway to handle an CVeI' I11Cr'easlllg VOILIIIle Of trafflC WotllCi be
reduced. The live lane design with left turn lanes would provide left turn protection and limit erratic
lane changes. While tllc roadway capacity is there to handle the traffic volunlcs, the parking would
be removed.
Council Workshop Minutes - 10/9/00
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A number of comments from the residents at the inlormational meeting dealt with the rncdians that
wcr'e proposed. Some questioned whether the rneciians were needed, the size of the median and
whether they should be landscaped. It was also expressed that medians would be more a}?propriate in
a commercial zone rather than a r-esiclential area. Brian Stuttlpf asked about stacking of vehicles ire
the left turn lanes when certain streets are closed off. With the side streets closed residents would be
using the left turn lanes to make u-turns. It was noted that most collector streets, like CSnH 7.5, do
not allow parking. Bruce I'hielen suggestccl that the City might look at landscaping on the side to
slow down the traffic instcacl of the center median.
City I'lanncr, Steve Cirittman, stated that the Gity wanted to preserve the residential area. The
concern was that because of the amount of traffic and the speed of~ tral~iic, tl~e residential quality
would deteriorate over time which was why this was included in the comprehensive plan. Steve
Grittman stated that creating a tighter leeling roadway would slow tr'aftrc and improve aesthetics of
the neighborhood. The question was asked how taking parking away would keep the residential
neighborhood intact. John Simola rioted that the comprehcnsivc plan design did clot include a five
lane, only the three lane. l3rucc "I'hiclcn asked if there was arly other place or community where this
haci been done. Mayor Belsaas indicated that the calls he l~acl received were against removing the
parking and safety concerns about backing into the str'cct. "I~hcrc were also concerns about snow
removal.
Roger Belsaas asked if the project had to be done this year. Wayne I'rngalson responded that the
surface condition ofthc road had pushed this project forward. He said the county would consider
delaying the project for a year but it could not be delayed much beyond that.
Becky Ilauschild briefly reviewed the estimated costs proposed tot- the meciian work. Roger Belsaas
asked about CSAH 75 beyond Otter Creek where it narrows. L3rttce ~I~hiclcn asked ahout CS~H 75 in
the area of West River Street atld Prairie Road. Wayne I'ingalson stated that there is nothing planned
for fitrthcr down on CSAI 17i. .lohn Simola stated th~.tt. West River Road and Prairie Crock lane
were both Duct 20 years old and like a lot of the streets that were constructed in the 1970's they arc
now in need of repair.
Bret Weiss stated since parking seemed to be the major concern, the City could look at the option of
pushing the curb out or perhaps the City could look at different types of medians. 1-le ~:iskecl that the
Council set some p~:trameters Ior design so that the engineer would have some direction. Mayot'
Belsaas indicated that this would be done at the regular council meeting. The Council also discussed
turnarounds for the property owners. C)ther issues that also have to be considered in the design oI~ this
project include: I) Parking by the post office; ?) Westside Market, <.tnd ~) 1 inewood I-?Icmentary. It
was noted that utilities cost would be the same regardless of the roadway design selected but at this
tune the City does -wt have an idea as to the number of lines that would need to be replaced.
'~.1 C.t.I.LTf~ ~JJ ~1.c~5 _ _
Recording Secretary