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CITY OF DAYTON The City of Dayton has formed a task force to study the bridge location issue and recommend a course of action. Thus far the task force has received input from the City of Ramsey, Anoka County, the Met Council, and Mn/DOT. Because the issue is so controversial in Dayton, a number of citizens have also attended task force meetings and have become involved in the study process. The Met Council has not given Dayton any indication that it supports the new bridge. The Council has suggested, however, that Dayton should coordinate its study with the Anoka County Transportation Plan. Mn/DOT has told Dayton that if it does not want a bridge, it will not force the city to accept one. Dayton city staff understand the need to plan for a bridge, which they feel is inevitable, albeit 20 years away. It is staffs concern that Dayton should be intensely involved in the location decision rather than outside agencies and jurisdictions. In 1992, the Dayton City Council adopted a resolution informing affected jurisdictions of its conditions for considering a river crossing within its borders and its preferred alignment. The City of Dayton's conditions were: • The bridge alignment must extend south of Dayton River Road (Hennepin CR 12) to future TH 610 in Maple Grove, to prevent bridge traffic from circulating through the community on collector and local streets. • The north/south alignment for the road link between the bridge and future TH 610 should be located so as not to impact existing residential development. Instead, the preference is that the alignment should be located in an undeveloped area. This will give the City an opportunity to plan for future development along the road alignment. An alignment one-half mile west of Fernbrook Lane (Hennepin CR 121) was selected as the preferred route. Because this alignment passes through Elm Creek Park, the City entered discussions with Hennepin County to explore potential land swaps. To date the City has not received a firm response from the County, but is confident the County would participate in a swap (additional park land for necessary right-of-way). The debate has continued in Dayton since 1992 when the resolution was adopted, and opinions about the selected alignment have changed. Many residents are voicing opposition to any new river crossing in Dayton. It is their opinion that the river crossing would benefit Ramsey and other communities to the north, at the expense of Dayton's residents. This sentiment has led the task force to look at two other options, Zanzibar Lane and Hennepin CR 13. A map is attached to illustrate these alignments. Descriptions of the alignments are presented below: • Zanzibar Lane (approximately 1 1/4 miles west of CR 121). The Zanzibar Lane alignment is along the western edge of Elm Creek Park and would not require land swaps with Hennepin County. Its extension to the south to future TH 610 would impact lakes and wetlands, however. The Zanzibar Lane bridge alignment could be linked to CR 83 in Ramsey.