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February 28, 2020 Page 17 RECOMMENDATIONS Using data collection from drone video, vehicular and pedestrian turning movement volumes, and many hours of field observation, safety and operations issues were identified on Lake Valentine Road in the area of Mounds View High School. Through stakeholder meetings and investigation of the operations in the area, several alternatives were presented to the City Council in a workshop. Two preferred improvement alternatives were selected for further analysis. Based on findings from modeling and analysis, considering access management and pedestrian safety strategies, the recommended alternative to improve pedestrian safety and vehicular operations on Lake Valentine Road is combining the relocation of the west parking lot access with a central pedestrian crossing controlled by a traffic signal. The realignment of the access would create a standard four-legged intersection, eliminate an unsafe offset intersection, and allow for two full accesses to/from the north parking lot at all times of day. It would facilitate the elimination of eastbound left turns from the east parking lot access, which would allow for a small raised median and pedestrian refuge that aligns with the westbound left turn lane. An access that extends toward the north end of the parking lot would provide exclusive turn lanes onto Lake Valentine Road and increase safety for pedestrians by keeping the majority of vehicular traffic on the north side of the lot and pedestrian traffic toward thesouth side of the lot. Additionally, fencing could be extended farther west and then north along the access driveway to channelize pedestrians to the signal-controlled crossing and away from the access intersection. The centralized traffic signal controlled pedestrian crossing would improve both safety and operations on Lake Valentine Road. Pedestrians would cross all in one location at a spot where only through movements are occurring on Lake Valentine Road. This would also improve operations at pick-up/drop-off and parking access locations as vehicles would not be delayed while yielding to pedestrians. Along with improvements made on the Mounds View School campus, pedestrians on the south side of the road would follow the sidewalk and not need to cross traffic twice as they presently do. For Lake Valentine Road users outside of peak times, operations would be unchanged, as the signal would rest in green for Lake Valentine Road so that vehicular traffic is unaffected. When a pedestrian is present and uses the push button, the signal would provide a red light for vehicles and a WALK sign for pedestrians. The time from pushing the button to receiving the WALK signal should be minimal, and the total pedestrian phase is estimated to be less than 20 seconds. The School Speed Zone Limit was previously recommended under a separate technical memorandum. K:\014908-000\Traffic\Traffic Study\Lake Valentine Road Study.docx