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To: City Council From: Neal Beets Re: Councilmember Ihlan's Motion/Resolutior� Relating to JamesAddition Access First, as shared with you in my last City Manager's Report, there is no consensus among the James Addition neighborhood about new or improved access projects. Some neighbors support MnI,�OT's decision to close the Snelling median, others are still very upset. Some neighbors prefer modifications to the Oa�crest-�'airview intersection, while others think that is unacceptable. Some support a new access at Herschel and County C, while others find that unacceptable. Second: What further study does the Council anticipate that staff would undertake regarding access to this neighborhood? My concern is that staff has already (a)developed numerous access designs, (b) developed the estimated cost for each design, (c) met with the neighborhood to share this information and received their input, (d) and the City's Finance Director has shared his thoughts with Council about how a city access project at the JamesAddition might be funded. What additional study is city staff to undertake? This issue may be ready for a Council decision, not more study. Finally, I attended the meeting with Lt. Governor Molnau regarding the closing of the Snelling median. I thought Lt. Gov. Molnau was very clear that any MnDOT action to temporarily reopen the Snelling median for left-in (but not Ieft- out) movements was contingent on the City Council committing to undertake a city access project on County C or Fairview, not just a City commitment to study the issue further. As MnDOT already knows, the City has studied access to the James Addition neighborhood for years. I'm concerned that if the Council adopts a motion or resolution calling for more study (even if there were something left to study, see above) that the Council may create expectations in the neighborhood that the Snelling median might be reopened when that is not what Lt. Governor Molnau told us. ; � , �� �� ' �� k y �