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e . . f,. ~: ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - SEPTEMBER II, 2000 17 miss incident with a child on a bicycle at the top of the Hamline A venue hill. He stated that the visibility is very poor because the road is so narrow. Councilmember Larson believed that Hamline Avenue and Ingerson Road serve a very different function than the other streets in this area. He stated that the City must recognize the fact that there is a high volume of traffic on these two streets and that they are serving to connect two busy roads. Therefore, it was his belief that these roads should be widened by one and one-half feet on each side. He noted that this neighborhood has no sidewalks and issues of safety have been raised. He acknowledged that if the road is widened some people may drive faster, however, he believed that there would be ways to control the speed on these roads. He did not believe that the City would have the ability to protect the people that walk and bike along the roads if the roads remain at their current widths. Councilmember Rem stated that there was no reason to make the streets in this neighborhood wider. She noted that there are environmental concerns about adding more pavement. Additionally, she believed that children will bicycle in the middle of the road regardless of the width and she believed that a narrow road causes traffic to be slower. Councilmember Rem stated that Ingerson Road and Hamline A venue are residential streets that allow access to other busy roads, however, she did not believe that they are used as short cuts through the neighborhood. An audience member stated that, if Councilmember Larson's comments that Ingerson Road and Hamline Avenue are speedways to access Lexington Avenue and Highway 51 are true, then the City should not have taken the roads back from Ramsey County. Mayor Probst explained that in the course of the turn-back process, the State is turning roads back to the County and the County in turn is turning roads back to the City. He indicated that the City had a choice of which roads they were wi11ing to take back and the City attempted to choose those with lower volumes of traffic. An audience member noted that when Ramsey County took Lexington A venue back from the State they received millions of dollars to make improvements. However, the City receive no money for Ingerson Road and only $3,000 for Hamline Avenue. Mayor Probst concurred with the comments of Councilmember Larson. He stated that one issue for widening the streets is the ability of emergency vehicles maneuver through the City. He stated that, although the City Council has allowed other streets within the City to be less than 32. feet wide, he could not recall one that was not a dead-end street or only serving to connect to another local street, Mayor Probst agreed that Ingerson Road and Hamline A venue do serve as connections between Lexington Avenue and Highway 51. He did not believe that there was a great deal of traffic using these roads as short cuts, however, the entire neighborhood uses the roads as an access to the larger streets.