02-08-10-R - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—February S, 2010 7 7.A. Mn/DOT I694 Project Update (continued) Councilmember Holden asked for an update on Hamline Avenue and its access to the freeway system and Snelling Avenue. - Mr. Lindeberg stated most of the concepts have west bound I694 exit ramp to Hamline Avenue removed. There is a weaving problem with the traffic entering from Lexington Avenue if there is an exit to Hamline Avenue as well and this would be unsafe. It was also determined that there was not enough traffic on the Hamline exit to make it a benefit to keep an unsafe exit in the system. Mayor Harpstead asked if Mn/DOT had looked into where the cars that currently use the Hamline Avenue exits would move to and what potential traffic problems this would create on County Road E and County Road F, which have substandard intersections. Mr. Lindeberg stated as,part of the I694 project Mn/DOT did look at how the traffic patterns would shift and the traffic modeling and traffic forecasting showed this traffic being dispersed in a variety of ways,but County Road E and County Road F were not looked at specifically. Councilmember McClung stated this project may be solving a regional issue but could potentially be creating larger local issues. Councilmember Holden clarified that more accesses to Highway 51 are needed because it is a problem now and closing off another access will increase this problem. Mr. Lindeberg stated this project is not looking at Snelling Avenue but rather I694. Councilmember Holden clarified that Mn/DOT was not looking at regional impacts then. Mr. Lindeberg stated in the modeling that was done previously regional impacts were looked at. This study did not show that a problem existed. This does not mean that they did an analysis on the entire length of Snelling. Councilmember Holmes clarified that Mn/DOT would be able to explain at the open house; why it will be unsafe to have the exits at Lexington and Hamline in the new road proposal compared to the current road, which has both exits. Mr. Lindeberg stated the traffic engineer has pointed out that this is an unsafe area currently and Mn/DOT does not want to design a new road with similar unsafe conditions. He also stated that when the area is reconstructed the ramps will be longer to meet current design standards and this will shorten the distance between the ramps making it unsafe. He clarified that this would be explained at the open house on Thursday. Councilmember McClung expressed concerns about the reconstruction of I694 from I35E and I35W and adding the additional capacity. He stated it is a problem when it takes a resident the same amount of time to get home from downtown on the back roads as it does to take the highways. Part of the problem for this is there is a substandard section of the beltway from I35E