09-10-07 Item 7C, I-694 EA - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAfT e. It would seem probable that the existing westbound Hamline-Snelling 694 exit ramp volume will be reassigned to the Lexington Avenue exit ramp with the selected alternative. It would seem worthwhile to review the existing traffic on the Hamline-Snelling ramp and reassign this volume to Lexington A venue ramp to test the reasonableness of the 2030 forecast. f. The 2030 peak hour volumes on the 1-694 Ramps at Lexington Avenue as shown in Appendix 3, Figure 3 seem to be low compared to some existing traffic counts. Specifically, year 2003 count at the north intersection shows a volume of998 vehicles during the AM peak hour. The 2030 traffic projection shows 1,279 vehicles. This seems abnormally low considering that traffic using HamJine will now have to use Lexington, and that 27 years will have passed. Assuming a background traffic growth of 1 % per year, for 998 vehicles in 2003, results in 1,306 vehicles in 2030, higher than the year 2030 projection. If one adds to this the traffic that would have been using HamJine, and the 2030 traffic project is too low. g. The 2030 modeling seems to indicate improbable conclusions at the signalized intersections on the Lexington Ramp locations. In addition to the lower than expected volumes on the ramps in 2030, the "Build" condition indicates an improved level of service at the south ramps in the PM compared to the "No Build" condition. Does the Build scenario result in lowering the ramp volumes, or does the Build scenario include intersection improvements not shown on the geometric layout provided in the draft EA? 2. Social. Economic. and Environmental a. The analysis of social, economic and environmental impacts seems to be rather minimal across the study location, except for possibly noise. b. The nighttime decibel levels under Minnesota State Noise Standards are 55 decibels for a residential area, while the Federal level is 70 for residential areas. Arden Hills has three noise monitoring locations: . Nl: South ofI-694 between TH 10 and 1-35W . N2: South ofI-694 between TH 10 and TH 51 (near Bethel College) . N3: North ofI-694 east ofTH 10 Existing nighttime noise monitoring results indicate 62.0, 60.5 and 70.3 levels respectively for the three locations. These levels are all higher than the state level and slightly higher than the Federal level on N3. The 2030 projected noise levels at the NI and N3 locations are projected to both exceed the state and federal levels without noise barriers. While noise barriers at these locations may not meet MnlDOT's cost effectiveness criteria, the City of Arden Hills would like these to be further considered.