Agenda - Council - 03/10/2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair C lvig thanked everyone for bellls; here tonight reminded them to sign in at the back so the City knows who is present tonight, lie stated that he knows that this has been a contentious issu.c, but everyone is welcome to their opinion and asked that things be kept civil tonight and asked that comments not be repeated throughout the evening. He stated that tile: Public Works C01111111ttee will Make: a. recommendation to the Council for a decision, C.ouncilmember Dehen stated that he would like to .reiterate that lie doesn't care about rhetoric of casting stones, and would aplalcciate it. if' e veryone would be diplomatic. City Engineer Jankowski stated that he would like to cover the background or the situation and present some solutions that they have heard from the neighborhood and the major advantages and disadvantages o' each idea. He noted that this issue goes back. to 2004 when MriDot wanted to close thee intersection of l 42 and Highway 47, He stated that there were two projects going on at the time, 1 -1wy 47 and the improvernent of 1.16, so it was decided that they should allow for traffic patterns to solidify before changes were made in the neighborhood. He stated that staff presented traffic counts and a report on the number of accidents that had occurred since those two plain projects had been completed to t11e Public Works Committee last year. lie stated that it continues to concern staff that the accident rate at this intersection is considerably higher than what they would expect at a similar type: of intersection. He stated that there have been a total of 20 accidents since that change and .13 involved turning oil the west leg of the intersection. He started that staffs primary issue is %Ifety at the intersection ill addition to the neighborhood issues, lie stated that there was a Public Works Committee in November of 20011 in which they invited who they thought were the affected neighbors and it seemed pretty clear that closure of 142 " at the frontage road between Argon and Hwy 47 made the most sense, Ile stated thixt the Council approved that in December and then the City heard from people expressing their concerns with that, which is why everyone here tonight was invited. Chair E;lvig stated that when Hwy 47 changed, it was a 4 -way intersection at one time and after several accidents they came up with a 3/4 restriction. He stated that this helps but it did not fix the problem. He stated that the City tried to get a stoplight, which t11e State wouldn't allow, so they compromised on the 3/4 intersection to allow access for businesses and residents. He stated that this was the best solution that they saw at the time. City Engineer .fankowski reviewed the options for the City to consider: Male no changes; Close 142 Avenue between TH 47 Fronta 7e road and Argon Street; Close Argon Street south of 142 Lane; Close 143 " Avenue and 142 " Lane east of Dysprosium Street; Install a traffic signal at TH 47 and 142 Avenue,, Install a pedestrian underpass /overpass at TH 47 and 142 Avenue; Close the median at T1 -1 47 and 142 Avenue; Reduce the speed in the neighborhood; and prohibit left turns from TH 47 onto 142 Avenue during peak traffic hours and left turns from Dysprosium onto 143rd Avenue and 142 " Lane during peak traffic flours, Chair Eivig asked about the restriction on the return ride corning out of L andinark Bank area. Public Works Director Olson stated that this hasn't been discussed because this is a private road and the City can't en'f'orce that turning movement. Public Works Committee / February 19, 2009 Page 2 of 19 —259—