Agenda - Council - 05/22/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

City of Ramsey 15153 NOWTHEN BOULEVARD N.W., RAMSEY, MINNESOTA 55303 PHONE: (763) 427-1410 FAX (763) 427-5543 TDO (763) 4-.27-8591 January 9, 2001 Dear Resident: During the late fall of 1999, several of your neighbors approached the City Council concerning issues of traffic along Waco Street N.W. in the vicinity of 149th Avenue area. Like many. other locations around the City there was concern about speed, but there were also concerns relating to traffic using Waco Street N.W. as an alternative to Highway #47 and whether traffic control devices might be used to discourage traffic or reduce speed. City Council directed staff to investigate, collect data and report back to Council and the neighborhood. The purpose of this letter is to update the neighborhood on what has been done, and what additional measures will be implemented within the next few months. In late November and early December, the City monitored the intersections of 153rd Avenue N.W. / Waco Street N.W. and 149th Avenue N.W. / Waco Street N.W. to determine how much traffic was continuing down Waco Street during the early morning peak traffic hours. It was determined that 7% of the early morning eastbound vehicles were turning south to use Waco Street N.W. from 153rd Avenue N.W. The percentage of. Waco Street users increased to 23% at 149th Avenue' N.W. This data was collected pi-ior to the new signals on Highway #47 becoming operational. Now that the signals have been operational for one month and the holidays have ended, a second evaluation will be made to determine what if any effect the signals have made on the use of Waco Street N.W. A second issue relates to the speed of traffic along Waco Street N.W. The City will be taking delivery of a speed-monitoring trail next week. The trailer will not only be used to warn motorists of the neighborhood concern over speed, but will also be equipped such that vehicle speed distributions can be gathered. A meaningful evaluation of speed characteristic studies must be performed when weather conditions are generally good and roads, are dry. We will. attempt to gather this information as soon as possible, and share it with you, however, the schedule will be dependent upon the weather.