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<br /> <br /> <br />City of Arden Hills ▪1245 West Highway 96 ▪ Arden Hills Minnesota 55112 <br /> <br />Phone 651.792.7800 ▪ Fax 651.634.5137 ▪ www.cityofardenhills.org <br /> <br /> <br />December 11, 2020 <br /> <br />Commissioner Nicole Frethem <br />Ramsey County Board Office <br />Room 220 Courthouse <br />15 W. Kellogg Blvd. <br />Saint Paul, MN 55102 <br /> <br />RE: Unsafe Access Concerns at Tony Schmidt Regional Park <br /> <br />Dear Commissioner Frethem, <br /> <br />The City Council of Arden Hills is requesting a formal response regarding its concerns over the <br />unsafe access conditions to Ramsey County’s Tony Schmidt Regional Park. The pedestrian and <br />bicycle access to the park along Lake Johanna Boulevard (County State Aid Highway 149) is <br />nothing short of dangerous. The City looks at other County Parks, such as, Island Lake, Snail <br />Lake, Lake Josephine, and Lake Owasso County Park and deserves to know why Tony Schmidt <br />cannot have the same safe, pedestrian-friendly trails and sidewalks. Our residents deserve the <br />same level of service from the County that other cities and parks are receiving, especially when <br />we are talking about the safety of some of our youngest residents. <br /> <br />These concerns are not new. City Staff and residents have reached out to both County Staff and <br />members of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. In-fact, the County’s own Sheriff Deputies <br />understand the safety concern and spend approximately twenty-five percent of their traffic <br />enforcement resources for Arden Hills on a short stretch of Lake Johanna Boulevard heading to <br />Tony Schmit Regional Park. Furthermore, County Staff has agreed there is a safety concern and <br />offered to test alternative pavement markings to reduce speed and keep cars out of the shoulder, <br />where pedestrians are forced to walk because there is not a true sidewalk heading to the park. It <br />has been almost a year since the alternative markings were discussed, but no progress has been <br />made to date on installation of these pavement markings. Why is the County failing to act? Why <br />does the County continue to put the safety of Arden Hills’ residents at risk? <br /> <br />In closing, the City of Arden Hills expects fair and equitable treatment for its residents, the same <br />treatment afforded to other communities. We encourage you to travel down Lake Johanna <br />Boulevard and put yourself in the shoes of a young family walking to the County’s park, and ask <br />yourself if you would feel safe walking or biking on the shoulder of Lake Johanna Boulevard. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />