02-20-07 Item 2C, I-35W Corridor Coalition Membership

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~'-c' designing improvements to 1-694 through parts of Arden Hills. The redevelopment ofthe TCAAP property will have transportation impacts which will drive discussion about I-35W, Highway 10, County Road H, County Road I, and Highway 96, among others. The I-35W Corridor Coalition is focused on I-35W and how to achieve improvements in the corridor area. In each ofthese areas, different "neighbors" may be involved. So we will likely need multiple venues for working with our neighbors to reach consensus, and one of those venues can be the Coalition. Staff is in the process of meeting with our neighboring cities to initiate discussion as it relates specifically to TCAAP. We know that we will need to involve them in discussions and decision making as our Master Planning process proceeds, therefore, we want to make sure they are informed about the project and its progress. We have plans to form "working groups" including representatives from each city, the County, MnlDOT, consultants, and City staff to have an on- going dialogue as we progress. The Coalition obviously looks at a larger portion ofI35W than that near TCAAP, but the corridor is impacted by TCAAP and the Coalition could serve as another venue for sharing and providing information and building consensus. 1 don't believe the Coalition will serve as a vehicle for the TCAAP-related discussions with our neighbors, but it can provide additional input and resources. Coalition response: Through face to face dialogue over the best set of information available to understand the alternatives available. The Coalition has been operating toward that purpose since we formalized the process in 1996. Prior to that, several ofthe Mayors met together periodically to compare notes, involving the city managers/administrators as well. Early on, transportation was a focal point. The Coalition Board now provides scheduled forum time as well as the opportunity to establish relationships that foster more frequent conversations. #2: How can Arden Hills balance the interaction of all of your major intersections that require creative design and good project commnnication as to costs/benefits? I spoke with SEH about this topic. They are working with MnDOT on the 1-694 project. They also have done studies on the 1-35 Corridor for MnlDOT, and worked on the County Road J Interchange improvements as part ofthe Medtronic project. In addition, they have been hired by CRR to do the transportation planning for the TCAAP Master Plan. Therefore, I thought they would have a good regional perspective and a lot of background to offer on this topic. They indicated that in their recent discussions with City staff and with residents at the Town Hall Meeting, the transportation questions extend beyond TCAAP and its impact on the transportation system. In order to comprehensively get at these broader questions, they suggested that now would be a great time to start the city transportation plan update process. They have had a few initial discussions with Community Development Director Barton about this, as it would be part of the City's Comprehensive Plan Update. We think we can cost effectively build offthe work SEH is doing for TCAAP and extend it to cover the entire City as part of the Comprehensive Plan Update. The Coalition can, as stated earlier, provide additional input and resources to these discussions as they progress. It should also be noted that the Comprehensive Plan Update process includes reviews by our neighboring communities, which leads back to question number one above.