Agenda - Council - 08/26/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Unfortunately, it has been clear for some time that the corridor is not constructed to facilitate safe, efficient travel for the modern-day needs of the public. Consider: • Within this nine and one-half mile corridor, there are multiple signalized intersections • For the past 10 years, there has been an average of 160 crashes per year! • One -in five peak periods of travel in the T.H. 169 corridor and related access management points/intersections (e.g., Champlin Riverfront Redevelopment) experiences a crash • High traffic volumes justify grade -separation improvements at several intersections • [See accident statistics on attached fact sheet] Multiple millions of dollars are needed for a "perfect" fix of T.H. 10 through the corridor communities and this has been seen by decision makers as too expensive to justify its costs. Working with local communities and Anoka County, MnDOT commissioned a study to identify other, more cost-effective improvements that could be made to address the operational and safety challenges in the project area. As a result, MnDOT has identified a series of improvements ("high -benefit investments") that could be made — and grouped them into four implementation periods (Immediate, Short -Term, Mid -Term and Opportunity/Safety-Driven). The total final cost for all of these improvements is yet to be established with any certitude. MnDOT's study also included public surveys. There were some significant results that should be taken into consideration as local officials contemplate their options for action: • The public supports fixing the corridor • If there is a Highway 10 improvement plan without a timeline, property owners feel paralyzed and unable to make land use or capital investment decisions until the state acts • Pedestrian exposure to automobile traffic is very high This past session, Anoka County and the City of Ramsey partnered to successfully request state funds to complete badly needed improvements to the Highway 10/Armstrong Boulevard intersection. NMMA's advocacy team joined in the effort to secure this funding. With this victory, the corridor improvement project is underway. This gives the Alliance Partnership a sense of `momentum' for taking on the overall reconstruction of T.H. 10. In the future, there is reason to believe that elements of the project could qualify for additional state funding. The Corridors of Commerce fund is presently exhausted, but future resources could be put into the program by state policymakers. Metropolitan Council support and federal funding, should also be explored. It is clear that without active advocacy, the project will not come together. Local officials and business owners should not expect the project funding to "fall into their laps." In an era of growing needs and constrained funding, smart communities band together to make sure that their local priorities become federal and state priorities. To be clear, there are significant funding challenges for transportation needs at both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, the Highway Users' Trust Fund faces reoccurring shortfalls, and it is an annual Congressional exercise to find a way to plug the funding hole. At the state level, over the next 20 years, there is a $12 billion gap between the state's identified transportation and transit needs and available resources. At present, the T.H. 10 corridor projects are not included in the State Transportation Investment Plan. As Alliance Partnership know, the STIP is the main document used to prioritize transportation infrastructure spending over the next decade. In terms of the infrastructure needs, several constituencies within the project region feel that the MnDOT list of priority upgrades does not include some important elements that would make the project worthwhile, achieve broader public support and be sustainable. Also, not all alignment issues within the corridor have been resolved. Working together through the Alliance, local communities would be in the best position to advocate for project elements and design and design decisions that best fit their respective needs, yet function together as an overall solution to the current constraints and safety issues of this piece of current highway infrastructure. Regarding T.H. 169 Improvement Plan, the City of Champlin submitted the project for regional funding ($6M requested) in 2011 and CIMS funding in 2013 and was ranked the highest project not funded. Since 2000, the City has invested nearly $1M for right -a -way acquisition and another $14M in acquisition and demolition costs t advance 3