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SRF Consulting Group City of Arden Hills | Mounds View High School Trail Improvements 1 Over the last decade the City of Arden Hills has been steadily expanding it’s trail system to better serve the residents of the community with safe and efficient travel by bikes and pedes- trians. This project to develop a trail connection to Mounds View High School is the next step in the realization of the City’s vision. The preferred approach is to construct an 8-10 foot trail along the south side of Lake Valentine Road and west side of Snelling Avenue. The City’s concept plans show a trail gen- erally at back of curb or with a small boulevard. While this design appears pretty straight forward there are a number of details that need to be resolved that can impact final design. Some specific items include adjacent grades, driveways and utilities and the need for stormwater management particu- larly along the Snelling Avenue segment. Based on initial brainstorming sessions on how the proj- ect could be implemented, SRF staff have considered several alternatives to the design that could reduce the overall cost and right of way impacts with minimal impacts to traffic operations. Design alternatives such as conversion of Snelling Avenue to a 3-lane section could reduce added impervious area, wetland impacts, and the numbers of easements required by the project. Through this project the City and SRF will define a process for selecting a preferred trail alignment and then advance the design process to move the project forward through final design, including County coordination, easement, right-of- entry, and/or right-of-way acquisition and watershed permit- ting. Some of the key objectives of this project include: • Preparing final plans to improve opportunities for future grant requests. • To obtain meaningful input from stakeholders living near the project corridor through highly interactive and engag- ing public involvement activities. • A high-quality trail facility that provides safe access to area schools, parks and recreational amenities for people of all ages and abilities. • To provide a trail facility that complements the area’s nat- ural resources and incorporates sustainable and resilient design. SRF has visited the site and spoken with project stakeholders to get a more complete understanding of the challenges of this project. This will allow the SRF team to quickly iden- tify impacts and get to a solid cost estimate early in the process. We have outlined a few of the key challenges and our approach to resolving them in the column to the right. KEY CHALLENGES PROJECT CHALLENGE – ROW, Terrain & Slope Challenges While the initial study has developed a preferred trail align- ment, there continues to be some feasibility elements that need to be addressed due to physical corridor conditions. We will look at the topog- raphy, constructibility, traffic, safety, right of way, and other corridor con- straints and their potential design solutions. We will utilize our 3D-design tools to efficiently look at cross-section, horizontal and vertical alignment options. Usually, there are constructibility, safety, cost, and/or traffic type trade-offs that are balanced with these investigations. We believe that there are benefits to making minor changes to the adjacent roadways to minimize right of way needs and reduce impervious surfaces. PROJECT CHALLENGE – Right of Way Obstructions (Utilities, Parking, Driveways, etc) When developing trails in road right of ways, one of the biggest challenges is the potential for obstructions such as utilities, driveways and landscape elements. SRF’s trail designers are adept at identifying these challenges and assessing potential resolutions. To resolve this challenge SRF will do comprehensive site reviews, in addi- tion to the site surveys, to get a solid understanding of the context of the obstructions and how the impact of the trail can be addressed in a cost-effective manner. Steep driveways adjacent, and ADA accessibility of the trail are a particular challenge with this project. Infraworks modeling software can be used to rapidly vet alternatives and produce visualiza- tions for public engagement and buy-in. Dependent on the situation, res- olution of the obstruction could include trail adjustment, utility relocation, access consolidation/relocation/closure and others. Years of experience in trail design means there are few situations that SRF has not dealt with. PROJECT CHALLENGE – Stakeholder Engagement Through respectful conversations with residents, City staff and stakeholder agencies we can better understand the needs of the community and respond with creative, constructible solu- tions that will help to ensure successes for the proposed trail. SRF is prepared with a full spectrum of in-person and online engage- ment tools to be tailored to this important project. We recommend one community meeting (virtual or in-person) and one project survey during design. We also recommend a social media campaign in addi- tion to website content. Additional tools that could be included as val- ue-added services include: • Field walk • Meeting Facilitation • Focus Groups (students, resi- dents, bike/ped advocate) Project Understanding & Approach