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Project Understanding & 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 pedestrians. This project to develop a trail con- nection to Valentine Park 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 west side of Old Highway 10. The City's concept plans show a trail generally at back of curb or with a small boulevard. While this design appears pretty straight for- ward 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 (particularly power poles) and the need for stormwater management. 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 permitting. Some of the key objectives of this project include: KEY CHALLENGES PROJECT CHALLENGE — ROW, Terrain & Slope Challenges While the feasibility study has developed a preferred trail alignment, there continues to be some feasibility elements that need to be addressed due to physical corridor conditions. We will look at the topography, constructibility, traffic, safety, right of way, and other corridor constraints 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 investi- gations. We believe that there are benefits to evaluating alternatives to minimize right of way needs and reduce impervious surfaces. 0 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 addition 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. Adjacent driveways, utilities and ADA accessibility of the trail are a particular challenge with this project. CAD modeling soft- ware can be used to rapidly vet alternatives and produce visualizations for public engagement and buy -in. Dependent on the situation, resolu- tion 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 There are a number of residential properties that are poten- tially impacted by this trail. Through respectful conversations with residents, City staff and stakeholder agencies we can better under- stand the needs of the community and respond with creative, construct- ible solutions that will help to ensure success for the proposed trail. Approach • 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 engaging 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 natural 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, along with recent work on the Mounds View High School Trail will allow the SRF team to quickly identify 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. LN SRF is prepared with a full spectrum of in -person and online engagement tools to be tailored to this important project. We recommend two community meetings and one project survey during design. We also recommend a social media campaign in addition to website content. Additional tools that could be included as value-added services include: • Field walk Focus Groups (students, resi- • Meeting Facilitation dents, bike/ped advocate) PROJECT CHALLENGE — Stormwater Management The additional impervious surface created with the proposed trail will likely exceed the thresholds for permit requirements for both the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) and the MPCA NPDES permits. Both permits engage Stormwater management requirements for projects that exceed 1 acre of new impervious surfaces, and both have special considerations for linear or trail projects. Upon review of the fea- sibility study, we have assumed that the constrained portion of trail will likely exceed the 1-acre threshold and not be exempt from Stormwater management. In these areas it will be important to Identify BMP's that meet the rules and have an acceptable level of maintenance for the City. Confirming the rules and approach is accomplished via early coordina- tion with the Watershed staff, allowing the regulators to provide feed- back at the onset of the project. This early coordination will help the design respond to nuances in the rules, allowing the permitting process to be as smooth as possible. This is especially critical as the trail is adjacent to Lake Valentine and very near Round Lake. One element of the permitting process will likely involve mitigating trail fill within the floodplain of Lake Valentine. On the trail project to the south, floodplain fill and resulting need for compensatory storage was a critical part of the RCWD permitting process. Last, the project will likely impact existing rural drainage systems along this State Aid corridor, including ditches and driveway culverts, to name a few. New curb and gutter will require storm sewer systems, designed to State Aid standards, will need to connect to existing sys- tems or discharge into adjoining wetlands, ponds or the lakes. Design staff will work with City staff to identify if there are any downstream flooding issues that the new impervious trail might exasperate and work to alleviate these issues with the proposed systems. SRF Consulting Group