Agenda - Public Works Committee - 11/18/2008

Home

CASE # ~ CONSIDER MODIFICATIONS AT TH 47 & 142ND AVENUE By Steven Jankowski, City Engineer Background: The City Council recently requested a review of the accident history and traffic volumes within the area that includes the intersection of TH 47 and 142nd Avenue and Argon Street to the west of this intersection. This information was presented to the Public Works Committee at their September 16, 2008 meeting. Discussion at that meeting resulted in staff direction to consider the possibility of closing 142nd Avenue east of Argon Street and west of the commercial district frontage road. The Committee suggested this closure may also allow the opening of Argon Street between the Mallard Ponds and Flintwood Hills neighborhoods, since the closure of 14Znd A ven9c would eliminate any benefit from traffic outside the neighborhood to use it as a short cut to TH 47. Attached to this case is an illustration showing the current daily traffic on area streets (2006 through 2008). It has been two years since the last major traffic project undertaken in the vicinity of this neighborhood (CR 116 was widened and the intersection ofCR 116 and Dysprosium was signalized in 2006). Traffic patterns should now have stabilized. Staff noted at the September Public Works Committee meeting two significant developments in traffic trends in this area; the traffic on Dysprosium Street has increased between 60 to 70% from 2002 levels and the traffic using 142nd Avenue on the east side ofTH 47 has decreased nearly 40% since that time. Dysprosium Street is handling an increased level of the traffic since the signals have been installed at CR 116, since it provides an alternate access to TH 47 and Highway 10. Also more traffic from the neighborhood west of TH 47 is using the signalized intersection at Xkimo and CHAH 5 to get onto TH 47. Although the traffic levels on 143rd Avenue, 142nd Lane, and Argon Street are within the limits anticipated for residential streets, the counts taken suggest that a large portion of this traffic is from outside the neighborhood. This corroborates neighborhood residents' contention that much of this traffic is utilizing these streets to reach TH 47 or the adjacent commercial area. The opening of the Terrace Hills Apartment building at Dysprosiwn Street south of CSAH 5 could aggravate this situation further. Concern regarding the. adequacy of the 47 frontage road west of TH 47 was also expressed by the Committee. Traffic volumes along the frontage road west ofTH 47 vary between 1,000 and 1,300 vehicles per day, except for the far southern segment between CR 116 and the Holiday Station entrance where this volume more than doubles. The existing trontage road appears adequate to handle the existing traffic volume which (except for the segment into Super America) is the traffic level expected on a residential street. 3