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ARDEN HILLS JOINT COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JANUARY 17, 2012 5 landscaping would not be included in the bid but planned for separately after the park development was near completion. E. Lexington Avenue Bridge Widening Public Works Director Maurer explained that as part of the negotiated settlement with Mn/DOT for Municipal Consent on the I-694 project, Mn/DOT agreed to widen the Lexington Avenue Bridge to provide an ADA compliant pedestrian crossing. The agreement stated that Mn/DOT, Arden Hills and Shoreview would meet to discuss and decide the appropriate side (east or west) for the widening and pedestrian crossing. The first meeting was held at Shoreview City Hall on May 23, 2011, and, in addition to himself, was attended by Mark Lindeberg from Mn/DOT, and Mark Maloney from Shoreview. There was general discussion at this meeting relating to a number of issues such as: • Widening to the east is more economical than the west due to the fact that it can be accomplished with one additional standard bridge beam. Widening to the west would require two special beams (widening to the west would require greater width because the east already has a narrow space available for pedestrians) to maintain proper clearance from the beam bottom to the interstate road surface below due to the grade of the interstate. • The Shoreview side has pedestrian facilities currently in place from County Road D to County Road J. • The Arden Hills side does not have pedestrian facilities in place from County Road F to Grey Fox Road. (It was indicated that the Arden Hills City Council would be willing to discuss construction of this infrastructure if the bridge was widened to the west) • Shoreview agreed to fund the realignment of the existing trails from the north and south ramps to the widened bridge if the widening was on the east side. Public Works Director Maurer stated that this meeting was concluded with the plan for a follow-up meeting once Mn/DOT had specific cost for the widening both on the east and the west. That follow-up meeting was not held in a timely fashion due to the State shutdown during the early summer of 2011. After the shutdown ended, he contacted Mark Lindeberg twice to remind him that we needed to complete the process of determining a side for the bridge widening with no response. In the meantime, at a public preconstruction meeting for the I-694 project hosted by Mn/DOT construction personnel at Arden Hills City Hall it was stated that the bridge would be widened to the east. Public Works Director Maurer stated that on November 8, 2011, Mark Lindeberg scheduled a follow-up meeting with Arden Hills and Shoreview to conclude the process. At that meeting and in a November 22, 2011 e-mail Mark provided the actual estimate from the Mn/DOT Bridge Department. The cost for widening the bridge to the east is estimated at $610,000 while widening to the west is estimated at $1,005,000. Councilmember Holden requested that Mn/DOT place a sign on the bridge that acknowledges the City of Arden Hills' cooperation.