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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2E, Lexington Avenue Bridge Widening WREN HILLS Request for Council Action 2E Prepared By: Terry Maurer,Public Works Council Meeting Date: January 17, 2012 Director Lexington Avenue Bridge Widening Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Recommendation: Informational only. No action required. Supporting Documents: 1. Memorandum dated January 17,2012, from Terry Maurer,Public Works Director. 2. E-mail dated November 22,2011, from Mark Lindeberg. EN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: January 17, 2012 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers Patrick Klaers, City Administrator FROM: Terry Maurer, Public Works Director SUBJECT: Lexington Avenue Bridge Widening Background As part of the negotiated settlement with Mn/DOT for Municipal Consent on the I-694 project, Mn/DOT agreed to widen the Lexington Avenue Bridge to provide an ADA compliant pedestrian crossing. The agreement stated that Mn/DOT, Arden Hills and Shoreview would meet to discuss and decide the appropriate side (east or west) for the widening and pedestrian crossing. The first meeting was held at Shoreview City Hall on May 23, 2011, and was attended by Mark.Lindeberg from Mn/DOT, Mark Maloney from Shoreview and myself. There was general discussion at this meeting relating to a number of issues such as: • Widening to the east is more economical than the west due to the fact that it can be accomplished with one additional standard bridge beam. Widening to the west would require two special beams (widening to the west would require greater width because the east already has a narrow space available for pedestrians) to maintain proper clearance from the beam bottom to the interstate road surface below due to the grade of the interstate. • The Shoreview side has pedestrian facilities currently in place from County Road D to County Road J. • The Arden Hills side does not have pedestrian facilities in place from County Road F to Grey Fox Road. (It was indicated that the Arden Hills City Council would be willing to discuss construction of this infrastructure if the bridge was widened to the west) • Shoreview agreed to fund the realignment of the existing trails from the north and south ramps to the widened bridge if the widening was on the east side. i City Council Meeting C:\Users\sonj a.klingberg\Desktop\1-17-12LexingtonBridge Widening.doc Page 1 of 2 This meeting was concluded with the plan for a follow-up meeting once Mn/DOT had specific cost for the widening both on the east and the west. That follow-up meeting was not held in a timely fashion due to the State shutdown during the early summer of 2011. After the shutdown was ended I contacted Mark Lindeberg twice to remind him that we needed to complete the process of determining a side for the bridge widening with no response. In the meantime, at a public preconstruction meeting for the I-694 project hosted by Mn/DOT construction personnel at Arden Hills City Hall it was stated that the bridge would be widened to the east. Finally on November 8, 2011, Mark Lindeberg scheduled a follow-up meeting with Arden Hills and Shoreview to conclude the process. At that meeting and in a November 22, 2011, e-mail, which is attached, Mark provided the actual estimate from the Mn/DOT Bridge Department. The cost for widening the bridge to the east is estimated at$610,000 while widening to the west is estimated at$1,005,000 due to the reasons outlined above. The three of us agreed that it was most cost effective to widen the Lexington Avenue Bridge to the east. I did, however, express displeasure to Mark Lindeberg at the way this process occurred. City Council Meeting C:\Users\sonj a.klingberg\Desktop\1-17-12LexingtonBridge Widening.doc Page 2 of 2 Terry Maurer From: Lindeberg, Mark(DOT) [Mark.Li ndeberg@state.m n.us] Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 9:26 AM To: Terry Maurer Cc: Norris, Wayne(DOT); 'mmaloney@shoreviewmn.gov' (mmaloney@shoreviewmn.gov) Subject: Lexington Ave Bridge Terry I am just getting cost estimates to you regarding the widening of the Lexington Ave Bridge. When MnDOT originally looked at the costs to widen this bridge, MnDOT broke the cost down into three different groups, excluding any costs off the bridge. 1- Median replacement and deck repair work 2 -Widening costs (abutments, pier, beams) 3 -Approach panels and staging Work Type East Side Cost West Side Cost Median/Deck $180,000 $180,000 Widening $280,000 $625,000 Approach/Staging $150,000 $200,000 $610,000 $1,005,000 So, as you can see,the additional costs for widening to the west were almost$400,000. This increase in cost was based on the need for additional beams, deck widening, abutments and piers.And,the beams would need to be of a different size to account for meeting clearance under the bridge. Also,this increase in cost does not account for any costs to modify any signals or construction of trails that lead up to the bridge. Because of the large cost difference, MnDOT preferred the trail remain on the east side of the bridge. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks mark 1