1994 06-20 CCP - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memorandum May 19, 1994 Page 3 The bridge and interchange improvements now being completed are theresultof that expanded corridor study, which showed the need for significantly greater capacity than simply widening the bridge to three lanes. In order for the City to go ahead with any type of improvements to. the bridge and interchange, it was necessary to conduct this type of corridor analysis, as Mn/DOT is generally not willing to participate in funding major improvements which do not have at least a 20-year design life. 1993.Revisions to County Road E Corridor. Study In the summer of 1993, SEH was requested by the City to revise the County Road E corridor study to determinethe impacts of changing the land use. on the northwest quadrant to 100 percent retail, combinedwith other changes to reflect recent wetland identification and an updated development scenario for the Wal-mart site and. other sites previously taken into account. The results of this analysis showed that the signalized County Road E intersections with the 1 35E ramps could accommodate the traffic generated by a retail site on the northwest quadrant and still function at acceptable levels of service during the pni peak hour (LOS D). The same is true for the main signalized intersection west of I-35E, although some uncertainty remains about the appropriate egress lane designations, due to varying data regarding the amount of cross -over traffic frorn one retail site to another_ This is discussed in more detail on page 6. I-35E Corridor Study In the summer and fall of 1993, the I-35E Corridor Study was undertaken by SEH for the surrounding communities including Vadnais Heights. Other participating agencies were Mn/DOT, Ramsey County and the Metropolitan Council. This study is a detailed regional study conducted on a computer model, using a data base of existing and future land use. For sites where the cities were currently processing a development proposal or where developers had purchase agreements negotiated with a property owner, such as the northwest quadrant, the proposed land use was used in the model. Retail development similar to one of Fontana's earlier development proposals was used for the northwest quadrant because it was anticipated to reflect more of a worst case analysis than the current comprehensive plan designation of office or office - showroom. Due to the ability of a computer model to do a more thorough job of estimating internal zone -to - zone trip characteristics, the I-35E Corridor Study shows lower build -out volumes along County Road E and Centerville Road than the County Road E Corridor Study. The County Road E study assumed that every new trip generated to the retail developments was also a new trip to County Road E. The model showed that this is not necessarily the case. Other new or existing. development along County Road E will attract multiple purpose trips throughout the County Road E corridor. Our build -out analysis assumed that 10 percent of the project trips would either come from or leave to the Wa1-Mart site. We considered this a conservative estimate because this low percentage results in more traffic on the surrounding roadways and intersections during the pm