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qASPAL+E REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Date: 10/17/11 Item No.: 12 . a Department Approval City Manager Approval Item Description: Consideration of the County Road C -2 Connection 1 BACKGROUND 2 At the July 18, 2011 City Council meeting, the City Council received the County Road C -2 3 Traffic Study. This meeting was followed by a Public Hearing on August 8, 2011. At that 4 meeting, a number of property owners from County Road C -2 and Josephine Road spoke 5 regarding a possible connection of County Road C -2. Attached are the minutes from this 6 meeting. 7 At the October 10, 2011 meeting, staff presented a range of the preliminary cost estimates for the s construction of the County Road C -2 connection. The Council and public asked staff questions 9 about the preliminary estimates. The majority of the questions were addressed at the meeting, lo What follows is the information that staff was asked about that required additional follow- up: 11 • The width of County Road C -2 on the east end is 32 feet. The width of County Road C -2 on 12 the west end is 32 feet. The segment of County Road C -2 between Merrill Street and 13 Fernwood Street is 36 feet wide. 14 • Signal costs: The traffic study indicated that it may be necessary, under year 2030 traffic 15 conditions, to install an eastbound right turn lane and a traffic signal at the intersection of 16 County Road C -2 and Lexington Avenue. Since Lexington Avenue is under County 17 jurisdiction, the County would need to approve the installation of a streetlight at that 18 location. No signal would be proposed unless the intersection met the criteria required for 19 signal installation. The cost of the signal would be shared by the City and County based on 20 the County's cost share policy and available funds. The cost for signal construction is 21 estimated at $350,000. The annual electricity cost for a signal is $320.00. These are 2011 22 dollars. 23 • Pathway Cost: The estimates provided included the construction of an 8 foot wide 24 bituminous pathway between Hamline Avenue and Griggs Street. In comparison, the 25 estimated cost to construct the pathway as a 6 foot wide concrete sidewalk would be 26 $12500. 27 • The removal of trees within City right of way- Staff has reviewed city code regarding tree 28 removal in city right- of- way. The two sections of the code that could apply are in the 29 Urban Forestry Management and the Tree Preservation ordinance; these are City Code 30 section 706.08F 1 and 1011.04F 1 respectively. Both of these sections state that tree removal 31 for the purposes of the construction of a public street is allowed. With any street 32 construction project, staff plans the project to minimize tree removal. Also, street trees could 33 be installed as apart of the project. The specific language of these sections: 34 "1011.04F. Allowable Tree Removal: Page 1 of 4