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Transportation Advisory Commission Minutes - 02-25-2004I-94/C SAH 18 Interchange Technical Advisory Committee Monticello, MN Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Meeting Minutes Meetinu Minute Issue mate* February 27, 2004 ATTENDANEES: Terry Humbert Mn/DOT Dist.3 Chad Hausmann Mn/DOT Dist.3 Virgil Hawkins Wright County Wayne Fingalson Wright County Rick Wolfsteller City of Monticello Jeff O'Neill City of Monticello John Simola City of Monticello Doug Weiszhaar WSB & Assoc. Nancy Hanzlik WSB & Assoc. 1. Approve January 28th 2004 Meeting Minutes Meeting minutes should be revised and redistributed as follows: • Revise the text in the 3rd sentence of the 1 st paragraph of item 2 from "would prefer to add" to "may consider adding". • Correct the punctuation for the first sentence in the second paragraph of item 2. • Delete the words "and off the supertransition areas of the alignment" from the 4th sentence of the second paragraph of item 2. • Revise the third sentence in the second paragraph of the Schedule item from "The City of Monticello mentioned that the bounce in the pond may have destroyed the wetland qualities it once had." to "The City mentioned that the pond has continuous flows and is used as a storm water facility rather than a natural wetland area." 2. General Discussion The minutes for the TAC meeting should be distributed to the PAC members also. Consider including an executive summary of our progress since the last PAC meeting to date. The City needs to have the finance plan approved by April 12. 3. I-94 Bridges Update The bridge inspection for the I-94 structures over the railroad was completed on Tuesday, February 17, 2004. Chad Hausmann has a copy of the draft inspection report. The report indicates that no immediate structural concerns in the beams. The inspector recommends Page 1 of 3 only redecking the structure and reinspecting the beams when the deck is removed. There appears to be no need to retrofit the beams at this time. The Mn/DOT Bridge Construction Engineer, Paul Rowekamp, will be reviewing the draft inspection report and finalizing Mn/DOT structural recommendations. Chad Hausmann and Terry Humbert will be meeting with Mn/DOT district upper staff next week to review the railroad bridge and interchange projects. Several items will be reviewed during their meeting including: • I-94 pavement age (30 years) and condition • Redecking of bridge — can Mn/DOT get the life out of the new deck if they simply redeck at this time? • Safety of 1-94 alignment — horizontal and vertical — Will the proposed alignment changes improve the safety from today? What is the positive impact of flattening the grade? • Relocation of the ramp to CSAH 18 interchange regardless of I-94 railroad bridge replacement. • Move superelevaation off the bridge deck as much as possible. • Alternative ways to address safety on the bridge deck (use of slurry in place of salt). The City does have accurate weather information from their weather station available for Mn/DOT's use during the accident analysis. Mn/DOT should contact John Simola for the information. 4. Discuss Feb. 12t" Meeting with FHWA Meeting consensus was that the proposed interchange shows the best alternative regarding the traffic impacts but the FHWA would like to have the following items addressed: • Show impacts of 7th Street as one way from XXXX Road to CSAH 18 • Evaluation of the impacts if XXXX Road is not constructed. • A slip ramp off of 7th Street onto I-94. The FHWA will require railroad crossing at XXXX Road approval prior to approving the interchange layout. The City would like to have the FHWA requirement for the crossing at XXXX Road in writing. WSB is responding to the above requests. 5. Discuss Meeting with Mn/DOT Central Office Geometrics Unit Chad Hausmann, Brandi Popenhagen and Tony Heppelmann attended the meeting. The Geometrics Unit expressed concern with the eastbound off loop. They would like to have the following alternatives evaluated: • A button -hook ramp from EB I-94 onto Chelsea before the CSAH 18 bridge. • A tight diamond ramp off EB I-94 and relocation of Chelsea intersection southward near the school. • A barrier separated parallel ramp extension. Page 2 of 3 WSB will be meeting with the school to discuss the impacts of the alternatives. Each of the alternatives must consider the impacts to the new pedestrian bridge, required length of CSAH 18 bridge, pedestrian traffic and elementary school access and signal spacing on CSAH 18. 6. Wright County update on funding towards CSAH 18 The County Board meets March 15. The Committee will need more details about the project and approximately what each entity is contributing before they can commit funds. The County board is already considering bonding for $6 million in mill and overlay. Projects not currently considered include TH 101 and the CSAH 18 interchange. 7. Mn/DOT Federal Funding Issues towards Interchange Terry Humbert will get back to us regarding Mn/DOT's participation after the Mn/DOT meeting next week. Federal advance funds may be used. If the City uses Federal Aid funds a different consultant must be hired to complete the construction observation service contract so the observation is kept separate from the design. Currently projected Mn/DOT funding is programmed through 2014. The I-94 corridor is projected to meet operational guidelines through the year 2014 but be failing in operation in the year 2023. Federal Funds cannot be used for structure replacement unless the bridge sufficiency rating is below 50. The I-94 structures will not qualify for Federal Bridge Replacement Funds. Federal Funds cannot be used for structural repair unless the sufficiency rating of the bridges is below 80. The I-94 structures will not qualify for Federal Bridge Repair Funds. 8. Next Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 1Oth 2004 at 3:30 pm at City Hall. These minutes were prepared by Nancy Hanzlik. Please contact her at 763 287-8303 with corrections. Page 3 of 3 I-94/CSAH 18 Interchange Technical Advisory Committee Monticello, MN Wednesday, January 28, 2004 Meeting Minutes Revised February 26, 2004 — Revisions are in Italic Type and some text has been deleted. ATTENDANCE: Terry Humbert Mn/DOT Dist.3 Chad Hausmann Mn/DOT Dist.3 Virgil Hawkins Wright County Rick Wolfsteller City of Monticello Jeff O'Neill City of Monticello John Simola City of Monticello 011ie Koropchak City of Monticello Bret Weiss WSB & Assoc. / Monticello City Engineer Doug Weiszhaar WSB & Assoc. Nancy Hanzlik WSB & Assoc. Brandi Popenhagen WSB & Assoc. 1. Approve December 171h 2003 Meeting Minutes Meeting minutes should be revised to reflect FHWA's comments below: The previous FHWA approval for this interchange utilized a configuration that was different from what we have seen proposed by the City of Monticello in recent concepts. Please be aware that these changes will require formal approval by FHWA. Based on our Interstate access policy, folded diamonds must be justified by extenuating circumstances. The use of a temporary at -grade RR crossing for staging I-94 is contingent upon utilizing it for only one -season. Utilization of the existing ramp will need to be analyzed as part of your operations analysis. 2. Mn/DOT Project Update There is a potential to fix the fatigue nature of the bridges on I-94 over CSAH 75 and the BNSF Railroad with plate welding if the bridges are not experiencing fatigue. Mn/DOT is sending out crews to do nondestructive testing to test the bridge fatigue. If the bridges are not undergoing fatigue than Mn/DOT may consider adding the plates and choose to Page 1 of 3 redeck the bridges instead of reconstructing and realigning I-94. Mn/DOT expects to make a decision in February. A question was raised that in addition to bridge replacements; "Wasn't there a crash history in the areas of the bridges because of the vertical and horizontal geometry? " Chad Hausmann explained that the crash history shows a lot of crashes occurred in 1997 which was the last major snow year. He said that a lot of crashes also occurred at the WB exit ramp head. He explained that sometimes police reports aren't always accurate in the location of a crash though. He stated the proposed geometry on I-94 changes the horizontal alignment by lengthening the tangents between the horizontal curves. The new bridges are much shorter, if CSAH 75 was severed, and they would be on tangent sections. However, the vertical change in grade would stay the same. The City of Monticello believed that geometrics on I-94 were a safety problem. The curves are unexpected and are uncomfortable to drive. If there is ice or snow then the bridges and corresponding geometrics are often the cause for accidents. It was stated that improving I-94 geometrics in this area was identified as a high priority project and has an expectation from the public and legislature for a timely delivery. If it is not decided to realign I-94 and set it up for 6-lanes it may have consequences to the interchange project. Terry Humbert stated that if the testing shows signs of fatigue and cracking then Mn/DOT would prefer to realign I-94. He also stated that the concrete pavement on I-94 is 30 years old and the need to replace the pavement could provide another reason for regrading I-94. Schedule: Mn/DOT explained that the FONSI approval could be another 2-months. Mn/DOT would have to wait until spring to get piezometers readings and determine if they could go under the railroad with I-94. Mn/DOT would also be concerned with draining a pond/wetland in the Meadow Oaks neighborhood if they depress I-94. The City mentioned that the pond has continuous flows and is used as a storm water facility rather than a natural wetland area. Doug Weiszhaar anticipated that Wright County will have a meeting with their board on February 91h to discuss their financial commitment towards the interchange. 3. Update on CSAH 18 Traffic Analysis WSB is still working on the Base CORSIM model to submit to Mn/DOT. They have looked at future volumes in the area of the interchange and it is becoming clear that by connecting 71h Street into CSAH 18 the CSAH 18 NB left turns onto CSAH 75 would be reduced. Terry Humbert requested that WSB look at how the volumes change if the Fallon Avenue bridge over the interstate is left out of the TRANPLAN future build Page 2 of 3 models. WSB will consider this for the operation analysis. WSB will also set a meeting with FHWA to go over some interchange concepts and operations. 4. Discuss Southern Frontage Road The City and the County would consider a 3/4 intersection access to the future Southern Frontage Road. A left turn from SB CSAH 18 would be allowed into the frontage road, but a right-in/right-out would be allowed out of the frontage road. The school access would be right-in/right-out. This would prevent the need for a signal at this intersection. 5. Next Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25th 2004 at 3:00pm. Page 3 of 3