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<br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />To: John Anderson, City of Arden Hills <br /> <br />From: Joe Lux <br /> <br />Date: April 11, 2016 <br /> <br />Subject: Traffic Control Changes at Red Fox Road and Lexington Avenue <br /> <br />We have observed traffic several times and at different times of day at the Red Fox Road/Lexington <br />Avenue intersection, both before and during the current construction traffic control was installed. <br />Congestion is, as the City Council has told us, significant, especially during the noon hour and <br />afternoon peak times. The construction zone will be problematic until the work is completed, so our <br />analysis will ignore the current situation and focus on the “normal” operations. <br /> <br />There are many factors contributing to the delays, including the following: <br /> <br /> The approximately 500 foot spacing between the south I-694 ramp and Red Fox Road is simply <br />too short a distance to accommodate the weaving and merging vehicles. The addition of <br />right-turn lanes at both the north and south ramps will alleviate this to some degree, but it will <br />still be an issue. <br /> Drivers are running red lights. We’ve seen drivers on all approaches simply ignore red lights <br />and continue into the intersection, sometimes several seconds after the light has changed. <br />This takes away from the overall operation of the intersection and often they end up blocking <br />lanes because there is not enough room for them after they have forced their way into the <br />intersection. Unfortunately, there is no way for efficient enforcement because there is simply <br />no place for officers to stop drivers who do this. <br /> A coordinated traffic signal timing plan is needed for the Lexington Avenue corridor. We have <br />SEH, Inc. under contract to perform construction engineering duties on the current project and <br />have discussed a contract addendum to include engineering services for the corridor between <br />County Roads E and F. Significant improvements in performance could be gained through <br />coordination. <br /> <br /> <br />In the short term, we are open to installing signs prohibiting right turns at some times. We <br />would consider electronic signs that prohibit westbound right turns when eastbound traffic has <br />a green left-turn arrow. We would not want to install these signs until the temporary traffic <br />control is removed, as the current conditions overload drivers with information and we feel <br />things are already too confusing without adding another, unfamiliar, sign. <br /> <br />In the long range development plan for the west side of the intersection, Roberts Development <br />Company proposed closing four access points on Lexington Avenue and opening another, <br />controlled by a traffic signal, opposite the south Target access. Roberts has expressed a <br />willingness to pay their share of the road improvements necessary to accommodate this <br />proposal. Ramsey County prepared a traffic study that confirmed that this proposal would <br />work at the proposed location and would contribute to some operational improvements at the <br />Red Fox Road intersection. Ramsey County has arranged two meetings among the principals <br />to discuss this, with no consensus on moving forward. We have proposed a County-led