2003_0602_packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

■ ■ The Twin Lakes area has excellent access to the highway system via Cleveland Avenue onto 1-35W., and Snelling Avenue to Highway 36 or I -694. County Road C on the south is a major collector roadway, providing access both to the major highways at either end of the study area as well to other areas in the City to the cast and west. Fairview Avenue links the study area with the Rosedale area to the south. In the future, transit, perhaps in the form of a bus way, may be available along the south side of Counter Road C on the current BN Railroad line. Many existing properties are large parcels (5 acres or more) under one ownership, with minimal secondary roadway system serving there. They are more difficult to redevelop for land uses which require expanded access and visibility. The only dedicated public streets in the Twin Lakes Redevelopment Area are short segments of Mount Ridge, Prior, Iona and Arthur Streets, north of County Road C, Terrace Drive cast of Fairview Avenue to Snelling, and Lincoln Drive from County Road C to Lydia. These provide interconnected roadways needed for an efficient and effective transportation system in the area with the completion of Twin Lames parkway from Terrace Drive - Fairview Avenue west to Cleveland. To date, construction has been completed on Lincoln Drive from Lydia to County Road C (including improvements at Snelling Avenue and County road C-2), Arthur- Street', and Terrace Drive, between Snelling Avenue and Fairview Avenue (which will become a portion of the Twin Lakes Parkway in the f i-ture). In 1 988, an independent traffic study for the area indicated that County Road C would experience increased retai I traffic loads and would exhibit significant traffic problems at key intersections in the future. An alternate east -west route (Twin Lakes Parkway and Terrace Drive) was recommended within the area in part to carry additional retail development traffic and in part to carry existing Business Parr traffic directly to the Interstate Highway entrance ramp area. The Interstate ramps were to be moved 800 feet north and expanded. This proposal would reduce the amount of traffic which currently uses residential streets to enter the freeway at County Load D. Another problem area for traffic congest ion} turning movements, safety and capacity is on Cleveland Avenue at the intersection with the I -35W ramps. This intersection is about boo feet north of the intersection of11" a, and Cleveland. Therefore, the Transportation Plan called for the development of Twin Fakes Parkway as an east-west collector street connecting 1-35W on the west with access to Cleveland Avenue, continuing east to a new ""right-in, right -out" intersection with Snelling Avenue. In 1997 the City contracted with the consulting firm of BRw to evaluate the design and ration of the proposed Twin Lakes Parkway and its connections to I -35w. with this new plan, the Parkway was shifted Boo South to align with the existing Interstate ramps. The existing ramp could then be expanded and safety improvements made. )Rw also evaluated storm sewer needs and designs for the western portion of the area. The Twin Lakes Parkway corridor was ``officially mapped" and approved by ordinance on October 26, 1998. In 2000 the City Megan its due diligence for the roadway by completing environmental site assessments in the right- of-way area. The Phase I and phase II assessment work is funded by- p. U Environmental Protection Agency grant in the amount of ` $200, 000, and will be completed in the fall of 2001. 12