Agenda - Council Work Session - 09/04/2012

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A2012 -5 Staff Report May 1, 2012 Page 11 of 12 Transportation As mentioned in the zoning review the property is located adjacent to County Road 116 and 7th Avenue, both county roads. The site currently has access from 6 Avenue, a city street. Anoka County will be completing a project this summer which will add two northbound turn lanes, two westbound turn lanes, one southbound turn lane, and one eastbound turn lane at the intersection. New lights and other improvements are also planned. Future access for this site and the 22.5 acres west of the library has been reviewed as part of the County Road 116/7 Avenue road project. Last summer, the City of Anoka and Andover commissioned a traffic study to analyze potential new intersections based on future land uses in the northwest, northeast and southeast quadrants of the intersection. The City of Anoka and Andover was asked to provide the future land uses. Anoka provided information accurate with what is being proposed in the ordinance. The study specifically looked at potential new intersections at 7 Avenue and 43 Avenue and at County Road 116 and 40 Lane extension (see included map). 7 Avenue and 43 Avenue. The analysis shows that a full access at 43rd Avenue and 7th Avenue is important to maintain an acceptable level of service at the 7th Avenue and County Road 116 intersection. Without the full access at 7th Avenue and 43 Avenue, the intersection of 7th Avenue and County Road 116 is forecast to fail and create queues and back -ups that affect the adjacent intersections. It also results in a significant increase in the overall corridor travel times. It is expected that the intersection of 43rd Avenue and 7th Avenue will meet signal warrants with the future development in the northwest quadrant. This intersection is outside of the scope of the road project this summer. If /when development occurs either east or west of 7 Avenue; the developer will be responsible for construction of necessary turn lanes and intersection improvements to serve the development. County Road 116 and 40 Lane. The study showed that if development were to occur north of County Road 116, the intersection would meet warrants for a signal. Anoka County will be upgrading the intersection at County Road 116 and 7 Avenue in 2012. A new intersection from County Road 116 to serve any development north would not be part of the road project this summer and would not occur until development occurs. This additional access should alleviate traffic on 6 Avenue that may be created as a result of development. Parks and Recreation This property has always been vacant. This property has not been designated or recognized as park area in the Park and Recreation section. The property is adjacent to the Anoka Nature Preserve which is different than a typical city park because of its various protections.