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

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Motion by Councilmember Jeffrey, seconded by Mayor Ramsey, to direct staff to prepare plans for the permanent closure of 14Znd Avenue between Argon Street and the TH 47 frontage road, and to continue to work with MnDOT for the realignment of the left turn lane at 14Znd Avenue. Further Discussion: John Enstrom, 870Z - 181" Avenue NW, appeared before the City Council and expres'sed concern about the impact of this closure on local retailers. He stated he recoFzes the City's safety concerns and asked that the City consider taking the NW corner of 142n and TH 47 and making it a playground to get people off the street and still allow people to get through. Mayor Ramsey indicated that cars are supposed to be traveling on TH 47 and Bunker to get access to those businesses, not via a residential street. Councilmember McGlone requested clarification regarding the number of accidents. Assistant City Engineer Jankowski stated that from July 1, 2006 to the time the City closed the street (March 16, 2009); or 989 days, there were 23 total accidents within that period; following closure, for a period of 320 days, up to February 10, 2010, there were two accidents. Public Works Director Olson noted that the reduction in accidents is based on a ratio of per million vehicles entering the intersection. He stated in other words, the accident rate is .3 accidents per one million vehicles entering the intersection. Councilmember McGlone stated that closing the road does not achieve the intended result and he stated he is opposed to the road closure. Councilmember Elvig stated he would like staff to look at some modification of the private road to get better access and whether it makes sense to pull the restriction out ofTH 47 and 142nd. He questioned if the City cuts down on the amount of traffic in the area, whether it is because traffic was unsafe. Public Works Director Olson stated that staff has had ongoing communications with the State regarding the intersection of TH 47 and 14Zndand the State has not viewed favorably the possibility of opening another motion into that intersection. He indicated that staff has reviewed the possibility of realigning the turn lanes, and one of the solutions the State came up with was restricting southbound/eastbound movements. He indicated the State agrees that the vision triangle is prohibited and their solution was closure of the road. Mayor Ramsey stated that the City has received a lot of positive feedback regarding the road closure and he felt permanently closing the road was the right thing to do. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Ramsey, Councilmembers Jeffrey, Elvig, Look, and Wise. Voting No: Councilmember McGlone. Absent: Councilmember Dehen. 7.02: Consider Joint Powers Agreement (JP A) with Anoka County for the Reconstruction of County State Aid Highway 116 (Bunker Lake Boulevard) from Germanium to Basalt Streets in the City of Ramsey City Engineer Himmer reviewed the staff report. He updated the Council with respect to the ongoing negotiations with the County on requested revisions to the Joint Powers Agreement. He stated the County has agreed to allow the City to investigate the three-quarter access at Unity Street and if it proves beneficial, they will incorporate it into the project. It will cost the City $7,000 to $10,000 to do this study. He stated the County also agreed to remove the language regarding future intersection closures. He stated with respect to the installation of a signal at Magnesium Street, the County has indicated that this item would be the City's cost. He indicated the Magnesium Street intersection design will be modified to accommodate westbound to eastbound u-turns. He stated that Casey's received notification in a letter from the County dated City Councilf March 9, 2010 Page 9 of 15