Agenda - Council - 06/24/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENTS PROJECTS — PROJECT DESCRIPTION Please provide the following general information about your proposal. Failure to provide this information will result in the application being disqualified. Describe the opportunity that the proposed project is taking advantage of or the nature of the problem that it aims to address: The Mississippi River Regional & National Trail transportation enhancement project will provide a critical travel route for biking and walking in the vicinity of the U.S. Highway 10/169 corridor within the City of Ramsey and Anoka County. This highway is designated as a principal arterial within the State's Trunk Highway System and carries high levels of traffic. U.S. Highway 10/169 is the only principal arterial roadway in the city and the most important transportation connection in the community's roadway system. In 2009, this highway's traffic count was 37,500 average annual daily trips (AADT) east of Armstrong Boulevard/CSAH 83 and 34,000 AADT west of Armstrong Boulevard. The City's 2030 Comprehensive Plan projects 2030 traffic levels increasing substantially to almost 48,000 AADT east of Armstrong Boulevard and 45,000 AADT west of Armstrong Boulevard. There are currently no bicycle/pedestrian facilities on either side of U.S. Highwayl0/169 in this segment of the corridor. Due to the highway's high traffic volumes and lack of pedestrian/bike facilities, biking and walking on this this major transporation corridor is unsafe, and at best unpleasant. This project is an opportunity to create a safe and pleasant transportation facility for biking and walking through this major transportation corridor for both recreational and commuting purposes. This trail project will also extend and complete the Mississippi River Regional Trail through the western portion of Anoka County. The Mississippi River Trail is planned to follow the Mississippi River through the entire county from the City of Minneapolis to the City of Elk River. Ultimately, this regional trail is part of the National Mississippi River Trail that will traverse 3,000 miles through ten states from the Mississippi River headwaters at Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. The trail will be within and adjacent to the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, which encompasses 72 miles of the Mississippi River corridor from Ramsey/Dayton to south of Hastings. This trail project is also located where the historic Red River ox car trails traversed between St. Paul/Mendota, MN and the Red River region, initially used by fur traders, then broader trading and emigration from the 1820s to the 1870s when rail transportation reached the Red River region. This regionally and nationally significant trail is an excellent opportunity to inform trail patrons (through interprative signage) of our state's transportation history relating to the Ox Cart Trail and subsquent settlement. Provide a description (no more than one page) of the project. This project consists of an off-street bituminous bike/walk trail, which will be 10 feet in width and approximately three miles in length, in the City of Ramsey, Minnesota. The trail is located in the vicinity and south of U.S. Highway 10/169, which is a principal arterial roadway, as shown on Exhibits LO-L4 in Appendix 1. This trail project is an extension of the Mississippi River Regional Trail in Anoka County, which is planned to follow the Mississippi River through the entire county from the City of Minneapolis to the City of Elk River. This particular trail segment will also connect Mississippi West Regional Park (eastern end) to the MnDOT Wayside Rest Area/Daytonport Roadside Parking Area (western end). At its eastern end, this trail project will connect to a planned and funded segment of the Mississippi River Regional Trail within Mississippi West Regional Park, as shown on Exhibit L3. There is also an existing trail within the regional park that will travel north -south and connect across U.S. Highway 10/169 via a future pedestrian bridge (shown within the exhibits) to a transit 8