Minutes - Council - 03/09/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Further Discussion: Councilmember Elvig stated that there is not sufficient information to move forward with a turnback. Councilmember Wise stated he thought the turnback was not an option until the Dayton-Ramsey bridge came to fruition. Andrew Witter, Assistant Auoka County Engineer, stated that a turnback has been discussed previously and the position of the County is that the County is not interested in turning back the roadway because it provides a vital service, is part of an integrated road system, it handles traffic between a City street and a highway, it needs to be a County road and it needs upgrading. Councilmember Look stated that he wanted it to be clear that when the County submitted its request for funding, it scored highly on the safety portion of the project because the County had hard channelization on everything and reduced conflict points; any deviation from that would require rescoring. Mr. Witter stated the County's position is that this is a good project and provides options for the City of Ramsey with respect to safety and capacity. He added the County is not opposed to taking a further look at the issue of the signal at Magnesium Street, but it is not interested in incurring those costs without assurance that the project will go forward. Motion failed. Voting Yes: Mayor Ramsey, Councilmember Look. Voting No: Councilmembers Elvig, McGlone, and Wise. Absent: Councilmembers Dehen and Jeffrey. Councilmember Elvig stated the real issue seems to be the signalization and asked if an access point could be created to the industrial park. Mr. Witter stated the County is under tight deadlines to get the right-of-way acquisitions and a sunset date is quickly approaching. He stated the Magnesium Street signal and opening at Unity Street were left open in the Joint Powers Agreement for further research. He stated the intersection at Magnesium Street does not meet warrants and if the County cannot get Mn/DOT to approve a signal justification report, the County would incur additionalliabilities. He added the County will continue to monitor the intersection and look afwarrants for that intersection in the future as well; if it meets warrants, the County will go after funding and put a signal there. Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Councilmember McGlone, to postpone City Council action until March 23, 2010. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Ramsey, Councilmembers Elvig, McGlone, and Wise. Voting No: Councilmember Look. Absent: Councilmembers Dehen and Jeffrey. City Engineer Himmer asked if Council is requesting staff to do any further analysis for Unity Street or Magnesium Street. He stated staff will move forward with the requested study regarding the three-quarter access at Unity Street; this work must be performed by an , independent consultant hired by the City. Councilmember Wise requested that the County look at pulling back the hard channel at the corner of Bunker Lake and Sunfish Lake Boulevards to allow both north and south access at this point. Mr. Witter stated he did not think this was an option for the County and stated some minor modifications were made to the design to help facilitate u-turn movements. City Councilf March 9, 2010 Page 11 of 15