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125 summarizes where the congested areas are in the City. Highway 36, Lexington <br />126 Avenue, Snelling Avenue, Interstate 35, and Rice Street have all been identified as <br />127 being at or near congested. As resources are available, they will recommend the <br />128 City coordinate with Mn/DOT and the County to take a closer look at these <br />129 roadways. <br />130 <br />131 Chair Cihacek clarified none of the roadways just described are within the City's <br />132 jurisdiction and it is hard for them to do congestion mitigation in those areas. The <br />133 only way to address it is to change where people are traveling to and how they are <br />134 getting there. The residential streets, which are in the City's jurisdiction, are in <br />135 good condition. As businesses and retail are being brought in, it is important for the <br />136 Planning Commission to know where is it sited, how are people going to get there, <br />137 and what it means for congestion. <br />138 <br />139 Member Wozniak commented they are looking out 20 years with this plan, but he <br />140 has not seen anything about how future technology might affect transportation, <br />141 congestion, and development. He inquired if the Planning Commission has <br />142 discussed how self -driving cars might affect the Transportation Plan. <br />143 <br />144 Mr. Mareck responded it is a common question and valid observation. Self -driving <br />145 cars and other technologies are being discussed in the media, but it is hard to <br />146 quantify how that technology is going to impact the transportation system. It is <br />147 important to acknowledge it is out there and reflect in the plan they do not know <br />148 where it is going to take them. <br />149 <br />150 Chair Cihacek inquired how it is reflected in the Comprehensive Plan. <br />151 <br />152 Member Daire commented it sounds like even though they know the technology is <br />153 out there, they need to forecast based on what they know is here now. <br />154 <br />155 Mr. Mareck responded they have a travel demand forecast provided by the <br />156 Metropolitan Council that is developed based on history of demographic trends and <br />157 the direction they want to take with transit, with an emphasis on denser land use <br />158 and future transit use. There is a leaning toward transit and trying to get people out <br />159 of the cars, but there is nothing to show that they have considered self -driving cars. <br />160 It is too difficult to have any credible assumptions to show that self -driving cars <br />161 will have any certain impact on the growth of the region. <br />162 <br />163 Member Daire referred to transportation goals and policies on page 23 of the <br />164 meeting packet, specifically items 3.1 and 3.2. He stated these items indicate a <br />165 more efficient use of the transportation system by encouraging transit use and <br />166 channeling traffic onto collector streets. Traffic congestion then is not a Mn/DOT <br />167 issue, and the expense is passed onto another jurisdiction. <br />168 <br />169 Mr. Mareck commented this policy addresses the City, County, and State system. <br />170 Sometimes they complement each other, and other times they contradict each other. <br />Page 4 of 15 <br />