Agenda - Council - 01/28/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Our Mission: To work together to responsibly grow our community, and to provie quality, cost-effective, an efficient government services CC Regular Session Meeting Date: 01/28/2014 By: Bruce Westby, Engineering/Public Works Information 7. 1. Title: Consideration of Adopting Resolution #14-01-017 Approving Joint Powers Agreement with Anoka County for CSAH 5 / Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements. Purpose/Background: Purpose: The purpose of this case it to review the Anoka County led CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) / Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements and to consider adopting Resolution #14-01-017 approving the attached draft Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between Anoka County and the City of Ramsey for this project. Background: By approving the draft JPA, the City Council will be providing municipal consent for this project thereby allowing Anoka County to move forward with the project in 2014 and to take advantage of the available federal funding. This project is proposed to be constructed in the late summer and fall of 2014. Construction is proposed to begin in mid to late August, and to be completed by the end of November. Since the project will be under construction during the fall, school bus routes will be impacted, especially as related to Ramsey Elementary School which is located approximately one -quarter mile south of the intersection on the west side of CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd). The CSAH 5 / Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements project, designated as City Improvement Project 14-20, proposes various operational and safety improvements at this severely skewed intersection. The proposed improvements include, but are not limited to, roadway widening, traffic signal construction, dedicated left and right turn lanes, concrete curb and gutter, concrete median (along CSAH 5 only), pavement reclamation, and mill & overlay. The costs of these improvements have been estimated for the purposes of completing the JPA and will be finalized after bids have been received. The costs will be shared by the County and the City. Attached is a layout of the proposed improvements, referred to as "Exhibit A" in the JPA. The JPA defines the terms of agreement between Anoka County and the City of Ramsey for constructing the proposed improvements including project purpose, method of delivery, estimated costs, fund disbursements, maintenance considerations, and termination of the agreement, to name a few. Notification: No notifications were required for this case. Observations/Alternatives: Observations: Based on the results of the January 14th City Council meeting, Anoka County modified the project by removing the most contentious improvements in an effort to ensure that the City Council would vote to approve the project JPA on January 20. The modifications made include: • Shortened the raised median on CSAH 5 south of Alpine Drive to allow full access to all properties along CSAH 5, including the Dental Office property. . Added a bypass lane for southbound CSAH 5 south of Alpine Drive to provide drivers a safer left turn into the Dental Office property. • Removed the proposed City trail connection, north of Alpine Drive, east of CSAH 5. The City would therefore need to construct this improvement as a separate project in the future. • Removed the proposed City watermain connection, north of Alpine Drive, east of CSAH 5. The City would therefore need to construct this improvement as a separate project in the future. • Reopened the south intersection of new CSAH 5 and old CSAH 5 as a right-in/right-out access thereby allowing drivers to access new CSAH 5 from the south end of old CSAH 5 instead of needing to use the north intersection with the steeper grade. The primary proposed improvements still remaining include; Signal system installation — This intersection is currently controlled by a 4-way STOP which was installed on November 13, 2006 in response to numerous crashes that occurred at this intersection. Prior to that it was a 2-way STOP controlled intersection. The 4-way STOP control was intended to be a temporary traffic control measure until such time that a signal system could be installed. The new signal system will include an advance warning signal on southbound CSAH 5, as well as an Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) system to allow emergency vehicles equipped with EVP to change the signal during emergency calls. The signal system will also be equipped to allow the future use of flashing yellow left -turn arrows, when warranted. Access modifications —Raised median islands will be constructed along CSAH 5 on both sides of Alpine Drive to help channelize traffic however, as noted above Anoka County removed the portion of the raised concrete median south of Alpine Drive that restricted access for left -turning vehicles to properties abutting CSAH 5. As such, no turning restrictions exist for any properties south of Alpine Drive. Also as noted above, Anoka County reopened the south intersection of old CSAH 5 and new CSAH 5 to allow the properties abutting old CSAH 5 and Potassium Street to access new CSAH 5 from either end of old CSAH 5 as they currently do. The only difference is that now, due to the raised median north of Alpine Drive, the south access will be right-in/right-out only so anyone wanting to turn left onto the south end of old CSAH 5 from new CSAH 5 will need to