Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-07 Agenda Item 2C, Discussion Regarding Hwy 10 and 96 ~ ~ EN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: August 20, 2007 AGENDA ITEM 2.C. TO: Mayor and City Council Michelle Wolfe, City Administrator Greg Hoag, Public Works DirectorJ;!rA- FROM: SUBJECT: US Highway 10 and CSAH 96 At the August 13, 2007 City Council Work Session, discussions were held regarding the Highway 10 and County Road 96 project. Staff would like to continue the discussion on this . project. We were working from a list of six questions and we were only able to discuss fIve of the questions before the meeting adjourned. In addition, Councilmember Holmes had some other questions that she wanted to address. (See all questions on page two). Staff would also like any other City Council feedback related to this project. With a Special Legislative Session to deal with transportation issues tentatively scheduled after Labor Day, we feel it is important to move this project to the preliminary design phase as soon as possible to be able to procure any special transportation funds that may become available. In addition, there is a legislative committee that will be conducting tours related to projects submitted for the 2008 capital improvement bonding process. The schedule has not been determined but typically the tours are conducted in September and October. Continued eligibility for state funds will likely depend on whether or not we have an approved concept plan for the project. For easy reference, I am attaching a copy of Mark Benson's July 27, 2007 memo regarding the project development process for Highway 10 and 96. Page 2 Highway 10 & 96 Discussion Qnestions: 1) Should the City of Arden Hills support a grade separated intersection at Highway 10 and County Road 96? 2) Should Arden Hills support the continued reconstruction of CR96 the section to the west of North Heights Church, continuing west to the City limits at I-35W? 3) Should the TCAAP property have access to Highway 10? 4) If there is a grade separated intersection at 10/96, should the connecting (turning) traffIc between these two highways be directed through TCAAP or on the west side ofTHIO? Are there options you feel exist but have not been properly explored? 5) If there is a more limited access on to THIO, how should access to the tip of the triangle be accomplished? 6) What elements of noise remediation should the Council direct the preliminary design engineers to consider in their studies? Additional Questions Prepared by Councilmember Holmes*: 1. Compare costs to move the manufactured home community vs. costs to move Scherer Brothers (obviously using reasonable estimates); 2. ConfIrm and give more information re: cost of moving manufactured homes. The way I read this material, there is a limit to how much is reimbursed for homes. Need more information on this. 3. Need engineering studies re: access between 10 & 96 through TCAAP rather than mobile home park. 4. See if Army/AHA TS would allow access to TCAAP - even before building of the community center. This would allow access to 96 and Hamline 5. Does a bike/pedestrian/car bridge from TCAAP to Scherer Bros. and mobile home park make any sense re: a costlbenefIt analysis? * At the conclusion of the work session discussion on Monday, August 13, Councilmember Holmes indicated that most of her questions had been addressed during the discussion, but that perhaps additional follow-up is needed on number four (4) above. ~ SEH MEMORANDUM TO: Michelle Wolfe - City Administrator, and members of the Arden Hills City Council FROM: Mark Benson DATE: July 27, 2007 RE: Project Development Process for Highway 10/County Road 96 SEH No. A-RY AC00704.00 At several recent meetings the public has raised questions related to design details and specific timelines associated with the project development process for improvements to the Highway 10 and County Road 96 intersection (10/96)_ In many cases, the level of detail being requested is not available at this point in the study process. However, the next phase of the project development process will be the appropriate time to resolve and answer these types of inquiries. The purpose of this memorandum is to explain the traditional highway development process that is required in order to advance a project ofthis type and magnitude. With any major transportation project a state and federal environmental review process must be followed. The purpose of this effort is to ensure that a project is developed in a manner that meets the purpose and need, while at Ihe same time resulting in the least amount of social, economic, and environmental (SEE) impacts. For the 10/96 intersection project, an Environmental Assessment (EA) has been determined to be the required document to satisfy both the stale and federal environmental review requirements. An EA is a full disclosure document that presents the impacts of the preferred alternative and compares them to thai of a no-build alternative. In addition, the EA will conclude whether or not an Envirorunentallmpact Statement (EIS) is required due to the level of significance of the impacts. Shown below is the project development process. Highway 10/County Road 96 Project Development Process July 2007 Planning Phase ~"" p.~E .aU' -- (8 Monlhs) Preliminary Design Phase -- (16 Months) Final Design and Right-of-Way Acquisition Bidding and ~ Construction Establish Project Purpose and Need .. Resolve Neighborhood Issues .. Prepare Final Construction Limits .. Refine Preliminary Design .. Relocate Homeowners/Business Develop Concepts .. Conduct Impact Assessment for Refined Design and No-Build .. Prepare Final Construction Plans Choose Preferred Concept .. Prepare StatefFederal Environmental Assessment - Conduct Noise Analysis - Delineate Wetlands - Prepare Relocation Plan for Affected Homeowners - Analyze other Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., 3535 Vadnais Center Drive. St. Paul, MN 55110-5196 SEH is an equal opportunity employer I www.sehinc.com J 651-490.2000 I 800.325.2055 I 651-490.2150 fax ~ Acquire Remaining Required Property . Develop Construction Staging Plan . Obtain Construction Pennits 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. Project Development Process for Highway 10/County Road 96 July 23, 2007 Page 3 As shown on the project development process graphic, the right-of-way process is assumed to take 16 months and will occur concurrently with final design. In total the first three phases of the process typically take over 2 years to reach the point that construction of the improvements could occur. We felt that eXplaining this process to the City Council was important to clarifY how comprehensive and long in duration this next phase is. This pre-established project development process ensures that any impacted homeowners will be given adequate time to relocate should the project process conclude a build decision and if funding is obtained for the improvements. It is important to emphasize that completing the preliminary design phase does not obligate the City to build the project. Rather, it helps all project stakeholders to better understand the project impacts, it assists in securing project funds because it shows whether or not the project is feasible to construct, and finally it allows necessary right-of-way to be acquired if the city decides to proceed with the improvement project. mdb c: Greg Hoag - Public Works Director s:\pt\rlryaco\070400\contraC(\project dc~'C!opmenl memornndllm_ revisions_doc