08-20-07 Agenda Item 2C, Discussion Regarding Hwy 10 and 96

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Project Development Process for Highway 10/County Road 96 July 23, 2007 Page 2 As illustrated in the graphic on the previous page, there are four primary phases to a typical highway improvement project; I) planning phase, 2) preliminary design phase, 3) final design/right-of-way acquisition phase, and 4) construction phase. The 10/96 project is currently in the first phase (planning) where the purpose and need for a project is substantiated and conceptual drawings are developed to solve the identified problem. The second phase (preliminary design) is where the process becomes more rigorous and delails studied and resolved. There are two principal components of the second phase; one is to assess the project SEE impacts, and the other is to refine the design to avoid and/or minimize SEE impacts. This phase in the project development process must be completed and a public hearing held before any land can be purchased. Typically this phase requires 8 months or more to complete. Specific to 10/96, there are two particular issues that will require extensive study during the preliminary design phase; the issue of highway noise and the need to determine an approach to relocating several affected residents within triangular area bordered by 1-35W, Highway 10 and County Road 96. Both of these issues are normally studied and resolved during the environmental review process. A detailed noise analysis will be conducted to determine the current noise levels at residential areas near the proposed 10/96 improvements and what the future noise levels are projected to become with and without the proposed improvements_ This information will be used to compare noise levels within the project area with state and federal noise standards. Where standards are exceeded, noise mitigalion studies will be conducted. This will ultimately include the analysis of the feasibility and cost effectiveness of noise walls. 1 would suggest that the limits of this noise study extend south of County Road 96 to 1-694 so that current noise issues along Highway 10 can also be studied at this time. The noise mitigation study results will be used by the City, Mn/DOT, and Ramsey County to determine if noise abatement should be included in the project. The relocation study will first determine every effort available to minimize the number of relocations necessary through the project design. This study will encompass the entire triangular area bordered by 1- 35W, Highway 10 and County Road 96. Once the number of relocations is delermined a study of available housing will be conducted. It is expected that the stick built homes and any businesses will be handled in accordance with the Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Act. For the manufactured homes a more extensive up front effort is anticipated due to the number of potential relocations. Initially we will determine the number of available lots (vacant or for sale) within Arden Manor. In addition, the owner of Arden Manor will be consulted to determine if additional lots could be created through expansion within the development. The relocation study will next begin an outward search to inventory the surrounding manufactured home communities to determine the available vacant lots and manufactured homes for sale. The results of this effort will be documented and made available to the public. In addition, an extensive outreach effort will be undertaken to explain the findings along with the relocation process that will be followed ifthe project is advanced to the next phases. The EA will include documentation of the above special studies along with a full review of all the SEE impacts normally studied. The EA must be reviewed and approved by the City, Mn/DOT and Ramsey County. The EA will be published and distributed for public/agency review and a public hearing will be held during the required 30-day comment period. Once the comment period is over a Negative Declaration on the need for an EIS and a Finding of No Significant Impact will need 10 occur prior to proceeding with Final Design and Right-of-Way acquisition.