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Postal Customer ECR-WSS PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid St. Paul, MN Permit #1962 I n s i d e Arden Hills, MN . 55112-5734 County Road E improvements outlined Johanna Marsh profiled Meet Aaron Thelen New bill-pay option announced News from the Mayor This past winter may well be remem- bered as the winter with very little snow. With the passing of winter begins the road construction season. This summer may well be remembered as the year the bridge was out, or perhaps more precisely, the year several bridges were out. Past issues of Arden Hills Notes contained articles about future bridge projects for 2015 and beyond. It is now 2015 and plans are firming up for several bridge replace- ments. I would like to take this opportu- nity to update you on the current plans. The County Road E Bridge has completed the design, bid, and contract award pro- cess. A preconstruction meeting has been held. Construction is scheduled to begin on April 13 and should be completed by Labor Day, weather permitting. During construction the ramps will be left open as long as possible, but they will need to be closed for part of the construction. (See ar- ticle on page 1 of this newsletter for more detail about the County Road E bridge construction project.) The County Road F Bridge has finished the design phase and is out for bids. Bids were opened on March 27. Depending on when the bid is awarded, construction could start in late April or early May. The primary driver of the schedule is that the Mounds View School District determined it to be better to start construction during the end of the school year, rather than to start later, impacting more of the begin- ning of the 2015-16 school year. The Highway 96/I-35W Bridge is in final review by MnDOT, after which bids will be requested. Bid awards are expected in late April. Construction is expected to start as soon as possible after the bid award. MnDOT and Ramsey County expect to complete the project in 2015. The new bridge will be built slightly to the north of the old bridge. This will en- able keeping the old bridge in place while half of the new bridge is constructed. It is planned that at least one lane in each di- rection will remain open during construc- tion. Due to the reduced capacity, you may want to plan an alternate route during peak times. The construction will take a full season, meaning part of two school years will be impacted. Please keep in mind that each of these bridge projects are MnDOT projects, not City projects. In the case of the Highway 96/I-35W Bridge, MnDOT is turning the leadership over to Ramsey County, as it did with the Highway 10/96 Bridge project. The City will work with MnDOT, Ramsey County, City of New Brighton, and the Mounds View School District to minimize disruptions where possible. The City of Arden Hills will take ad- vantage of the construction to complete The Bridge is out . . . . . some long-standing projects during the same construction time frame. City-led improvements along County Road E east of the bridge will include new lighting, sidewalk additions, new medians, bike lanes, and a dual left turn lane onto Lex- ington Avenue. City-led improvements for County Road F will include a trail section to Mounds View High School. Highway 96/I-35W will also include trail sections enabling a pedestrian connection to New Brighton. As with any road or bridge construction, there will be an impact on residents and businesses. Once completed, however, we all get to enjoy the improvements for years and years to come. County Road E2 and County Road H Bridge replacements are still scheduled for 2016. Regards, David Grant, Mayor