Agenda - Council Work Session - 12/09/2014

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cities of Anoka and Ramsey, including partnering with the City of Anoka, Anoka County, and MnDOT to prioritize and implement the numerous incremental small-scale improvement projects identified by the study to achieve more than 90% of the safety benefits at less than 50% of a full freeway conversion, the original vision for this corridor of Highway 10. And considering that much of this corridor of Highway 10 operates at Level of Service F during peak periods, implementing the identified incremental projects will significantly improve mobility and safety, and also benefit economic development in the region. On a related note, we wish to thank the Metropolitan Council for supporting the Highway 10 Access Planning Study. However, we would like to encourage the Metropolitan Council and MnDOT to continue long-term planning and design efforts to provide future capacity improvements along this corridor of Highway 10. Again, we believe such improvements are necessary to support the region's economic sustainability. The City's second regional transportation priority is to improve congestion and safety on Highway 47. In considering origins and destinations of many of Ramsey's future growth areas, it will become increasingly important to improve congestion and safety on Highway 47. The City is updating our transportation plan to support this goal, but it will take a partnership of the cities of Anoka and Ramsey, Anoka County, MnDOT, and the Metropolitan Council to address this difficult yet important transportation priority. The City's third regional transportation priority is a future Mississippi River crossing to create a connection to the City of Dayton. Due to anticipated future growth, coupled with existing congestion on the river crossings on either side including the U.S. Highway 169 river crossing in the cities of Anoka and Champlin, and the Highway 101 river crossing in the cities of Otsego and Elk River, it will be important for the success of the area and the region from the perspective of affordable housing, life -cycle housing, economic development, and the inter -related connections between them all, to eliminate this existing barrier and allow for the creation of un-tapped economic development potential. To help ensure that our regional transportation priorities (Highway 10, Highway 47, and a future Mississippi River crossing) can be achieved, continued coordination will be required between the Metropolitan Council, MnDOT, Anoka County, and the City of Ramsey. By properly aligning our plans in relation to these priorities, external funding can be more easily obtained. The City of Ramsey is encouraged to see that the Highway 10 and Anoka County State Aid Highway 83/Armstrong Boulevard interchange project is identified in the draft TPP, as is the Highway 10 Access Planning Study. We were also encouraged to see the future Mississippi River crossing between Daytona and Ramsey discussed and supported in the draft TPP. The City is also encouraged to see the draft TPP recognizes the issue of the growing number of trains carrying oil from the Bakken oil fields through the Twin Cities area. This is resulting in an increasing number of delays for the Northstar line, which has a station in Ramsey, and is a growing cause of concern for the City due to the safety concerns associated with the high volatility of the oil in the event of a derailment. Our local fire and police departments have also had to complete additional training to prepare for such an event. Wage