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April 5, 2001 CITY PROJECT M-0 1- 14 -- Rice Street Pathway Page 2 of 2 • E�sting bridge shoulder is 4 feet wide. It would be difficult to justify the cost and impacts to traffic associated with widening the bridge for a pathway, especially since the County and State ha�e indicated that this bridge will be reconstructed sometime in the next $ to 10 years. • Limited e�sting right-of-way at the Fortune House Restaurant, 2257 Rice Street. The alternatives: 1. Construct an 8-foot wide nathwa�: This turned out to be the most expensive altemative. In order to make the City standard 8-foot bituminous pathway with a 5-foot setback from the road "fit" in this corridor, extensive widening of the boulevard needs to be done in addition to the acquisition of a 1 0-foot wide easement from the properties north of Hwy 36. A retaining wall would need to be constructed from Capitol View to Minnesota Avenue, ranging in height from 1.5 feet to 6 feet tall. There would also need to be 15 to 20 foot tall retaining walls constructed between the bridge and highway ramps, with a fence at the top to provide a barrier. It would not be feasible to widen the bridge shoulder, the 8-foot path would lead up to the 4-foot shoulder on the bridge. Approximate cost for this alternative, $150,000. 2. Construct a nathwa� to the width that fits: The cost is moderate. This would be one way to get non-motorized users off the road, and address some of the safety concerns especially in the summer months. Winter may prove difficult for the pathway user as well as City maintenance. In order to make the pathway fit and keep the costs down, the 5-foot boulevard would be entirely eliminated in some areas, and minimized in others. Even doing this we would still need to purchase permanent right-of-way from the Fortune House restaurant at 2257 Rice Street. The bituminous pathway would range in width from 4 feet with no horizontal separation from the road, to 6 feet wide with 5 feet of separation. Cost for this altemative: $55,000. 3. Do Nothin� at this time: As in all reports, the "do- nothing" alternative should be considered. While there are pedestrian safety concerns for this corridor, it may make sense to delay constructing this in-fill pathway until Rice Street, the bridge, and e�sting pathways are reconstructed to meet standards. Even though the money is provided by a grant, the City may look like they are throwing money at a non-permanent solution or creating a future maintenance problem. Unfortunately, if we went with this alternative at this time we would lose the grant money. After discussing the altematives, and weighing the costs and benefits of this proposed pathway link, Staff would like to recommend that the Council move ahead with Alternative 2. The residents in this area ha�e called indicating that traffic makes tra�eling on the road dangerous, but walking on the unpa�ed shoulder is difficult. With the amount of calls and the public safety concerns, the benefits outweigh the costs for this pathway segment. Funding The construction of the recommended alternative for the proposed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through Ramsey will fund the full cost of the pathway. Thus, no assessments would would not be used for this project. Enc: Location Map pathway is estimated to cost $55,000. A County Housing Redevelopment Authority result from this project, and City local funds