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May 4, 2016 Jill Hutmacher Community Development Director City of Arden Hills 1245 W. highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 LAND O’LAKES EXPANSION TRAFFIC STUDY Dear Jill: We have reviewed the traffic memorandum prepared by SRF Consulting for the Land O’Lakes expansion. We generally concur with the contents of that report and have the following comments:  The report does not include the capacity improvements now under construction at the Lexington Avenue/County Road F intersection, which are more extensive than the recommended short-term improvements and are expected to provide acceptable operations through their service life. The completed improvements will include the following lane configurations (which are correctly summarized in the Summary and Conclusions, Page 22): o Northbound Lexington Avenue- two left-turn lanes, two through lanes, one right-turn lane. o Southbound Lexington Avenue- two left-turn lanes, one right-turn lane, one through lane. o Eastbound County Road F- one left-turn lane, one through lane, one right-turn lane. o Westbound County Road F- one left-turn lane, one through lane, one right-turn lane.  The 2018 Capacity Analysis shown on Table 5, Page 10, shows acceptable levels of service (LOS) at all access points except the “east access” and “south access”. The mitigation proposed for these based on the difficulty of making left turns out of the access points is clearly an issue and we agree with the recommendation to restrict left turns out of both thee access points, as discussed on Page 13 of the report.  Traffic signal control is recommended at the County Road F/Innovation Way intersection and the report indicates that the peak hour warrant is met in the developed condition (Page 19). We agree that signal control would be appropriate there, but a full warrant analysis needs to be done and provided to the County for review. Right and left-turn lanes would be required on County Road F. The County would not contribute to the cost of the signal or necessary geometric improvements. The County would be able to provide contract administration, construction engineering, and inspection services.  The traffic modeling shows significant reductions in PM peak hour left turns at the County Road F east access. Without physically prohibiting movement from the main employee parking lot to that access point, we would expect a significant number of drivers to bypass the signalized intersection at Innovation Way to make right turns at the east location. It is crucial to limit the number of users at this location to minimize conflicts with the adjacent Gradient Center and Bremer Bank access points. A requirement of the access permit required for Innovation way will be to devise a way of prohibiting movements from the main parking lot to the east access point. Emergency vehicle access between the east access and lot would be acceptable, and we can work with the developer to devise an acceptable design. We look forward to working with the City and Land O’Lakes on this important project. Please feel free to contact me at 651-266-1774 or by e-mail at joseph.lux@co.ramsey.mn.us or County Traffic Engineer Erin Laberee at 651- 266-7105, e-mail erin.laberee@co.ramsey.mn.us . Sincerely, Joseph Lux Senior Transportation Planner C: John Anderson, Arden Hills Public Works Director Marcia Droege, Land O’ Lakes John Slack, Perkins + Will