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three MTC transportation hubs and several urban residential areas. The schools <br />currently accommodate 7,083 student and 528 employees which, because of the <br />growth in the area, is projected to continue to increase in the future. In addition, the <br />college and evening and weekend activities at the schools generate an additional <br />14,000 users. <br /> <br />The project will provide completion ot' a bikeway/walkway system <br />which can fully survive without the additioual future links which will <br />certainly provide for additional enhancements and enhancement opportunities in the <br />future. This project positively directly impacts the Cities of Ramsey, <br />Anoka and Andover and the County of Anoka, and future <br />enhancements will benefit the Cities of Coon Rapids, Blaine and <br />Ham Lake, The Cities of Anoka and Ramsey have undertaken the mission of <br />completion of this 25.6 Mile system. <br /> <br />This project consists of utilizing existing right-of-way held by the Minnesota <br />Department of Transportation, Anoka County and the Cities of Ramsey and Anoka. <br />It also includes the utilization of existing bikeway/walkway trails and sidewalks, an <br />existing overpass, an existing underpass and an existing bridge. It will also <br />provide for safety and security in'tprovements in the area due to the provision for <br />security lighting and intersection lighting throughout the entire project area. <br /> <br />Projects which are partially de~,eloped with regards to the federal <br />processing requirements appropriate to the proposed project and or which <br />can be completed and open to the public for the use intended by the end of <br />calendar year 1994. <br /> <br />All elements are in place for the completion of this project prior to the fall of 1994. <br />The majority of the County Road #116 alternative transportation bikeway/walkway <br />will be within an existing road right-of-way.. An environmental impact statement <br />will not be necessary for either the bikeway/walkway construction, the landscaping, <br />r shoretand acquisition components. This bikeway/walkway will have a positive <br />environmental impact and cannot be considered controversial. Anoka County has <br />provided for the bikeway/walkway right-of-way within the engineering design <br />process for the improvement of the County Road #116 and State Highway #47 <br />~ntersections scheduled for 1994. <br /> <br />The County Road #116 alternative transportation corridor project has been in <br />Anoka's and Ramsey's Comprehensive Land use, transportation and recreation <br />plans since 1980. Recent developments in the area including the 1991 Anoka <br />County #I16 bridge project, scheduled Minnesota State Highway #47 <br />improvements and all developed and developing residential subdivisions and <br />commercial/industrial plats have contemplated and allowed for this project. <br /> <br />The direct connection to five schools, .employment and the retail resources this <br />project entails, in addition to providing safe pedestrian and bicycle travel to existing <br />Metropolitan Transit Commission bus stops, will be a valuable demonstration of the <br />benefits of ISTEA's Enhancements program. Plus, reductions of single occupant <br />vehicles as well as pollution mitigation and scenic enhancements afforded by this <br />sustainable travel project will encourage and promote further social, economic and <br />environmentally positive transportation planning at the local, regional and national <br />level. <br /> <br /> <br />