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<br /> EXISTING DEFICIEHCIES <br /> . The major deficiency with County Road I is that it is not on a continuous east/west <br /> alignm ent. The offset intersections with Hamline Avenue and Lexington Avenue require <br /> that vehicles make 90 degree t urns and travel short distances on Hamline A venue and <br /> on Lexington Avenue to continue on County Road I. The increasing volume of traffic <br /> on County Road I and on Lexington Avenue results in congestion and the potential for <br /> conflicts at County Road I and Lexington A venue.. <br /> As traffic increases further, traffic signals will be warranted at the intersection of <br /> Lexington Avenue and County Road I. <br /> Signalization of County Road I and Lexington Avenue as it exists requires two signal <br /> systems 400 feet apart. East/west movement through these systems is undesirable <br /> because of increased conflicts with Lexington Avenue traffic. Geometric revisions to <br /> provide one intersection rather than two, as shown in the proposed alternatives, minimizes <br /> these conflicts and allows good east/west and north/south movement through the area. <br /> The Ramsey County Pavement Management Program recommends that the pavement <br /> on County Road I from .2 mile west of Lexington Avenue to l..exington Avenue be <br /> replaced. The 24-foot section of County Road I is narrower than county state aid <br /> highway standards specify as minimum desirable width for a road of this type, Pedestrian <br /> and bicycle provisions are lacking along the road. <br /> Hamline Avenue between the segments of County Road I is located in a floodplain and <br /> has been under water at times in two of the last five years. <br /> . AL TERHATIVES CONSIDERED <br /> Since the major problem with County Road I from Hamline Avenue to Lexington Avenue <br /> is its alignment, the alternatives considered by Ramsey County at this time focus on <br /> alignm ent, rather than design, of the road. <br /> County Road I is located in an area with many constraints to road construction. These <br /> constraints were most likely what resulted in the existing alignment of the road. In <br /> order to assess some of the constraints, meetings were held between Ramsey County <br /> Public Works' staff and the staff of the St, Paul Water Utility, the City of Shoreview <br /> and the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant. Summaries of these meetings are included <br /> in the appendix of this report. <br /> The alternates proposed are numbered one through four. <br /> Alternate 1 (Figure 3) has curves on County Road I west <br /> of the present intersection with Hamline A venue and <br /> east of the present intersection with Lexington Avenue. <br /> --- ..-. - <br /> Environmental considerations associated with this alternate are floodplain, wetlands, <br /> open space property and County Ditch 1. <br /> This alternative would involve filling in a 900-foot stretch of floodplain west of Hamline <br /> Avenue and an additional 600 feet of floodplain east of Lexington Avenue, Permits <br /> . tor this will be required from the Army Corps of Engineers and Rice Creek Watershed <br /> District. Widening the existing County Road I alignment between Hamline Avenue and <br /> 2 <br /> -- <br />