Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/10/2015

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City of Ramsey 2030 Comprehensive Plan Chapter 6: Transportation 2. Possible New Mississippi River Bridge Anoka County has proposed locating a new Mississippi River bridge in Ramsey at the location that was agreed upon by Ramsey and Dayton. The County proposed alignment for this bridge would generally be the southerly extension of an alternative alignment to Armstrong Boulevard through right-of-way already owned by Anoka County. In addition to crossing the river, the bridge could offer grade -separated crossings of the BNSF railroad tracks and TH 10/169. In the scenario proposed by Anoka County, Armstrong Boulevard would be upgraded and become part of the State's trunk highway system. Mn/DOT has not yet agreed with the design for a new river crossing or the highway jurisdictional changes shown in the scoping study and the TH 10 Access Management Study. Anoka County's plan does not specifically state that Armstrong Boulevard will be part of a Trunk Highway System, but will state that a new river crossing is warranted in the general vicinity of Armstrong Boulevard. The Major River Crossings Study Report of 1989 by the Transportation Advisory Board indicated that projected traffic volumes on Highway 10 warrant an additional bridge crossing. With the improvements to the 610 Bridge and the new east -west highway through Brooklyn Park coordinated efforts to study potential needs and solutions to the River Crossing issue should continue. Public opinion in Ramsey strongly favors a new bridge. The Ramsey City Council has also expressed strong support for a new Mississippi River Bridge crossing. The City of Ramsey worked cooperatively with the City of Dayton and prepared a letter of agreement on a location of a future bridge corridor that would run through vacant land approximately 3/4 of a mile west of the corridor originally proposed in the Anoka County 2015 Transportation Plan. The Comprehensive Plans for the Cities of Dayton and Ramsey are consistent with respect to locating a future Mississippi River Crossing. This location is generally illustrated in Figure 6-2. Another critical component of studying improved crossing of the Mississippi River is adherence to the State and Federal regulations of the Mississippi River according to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and Critical Areas Act. Essentially, these acts require that prior to planning for an additional river crossing, all alternative solutions to improving traffic problems associated with the river be studied including expanding the existing crossings and adding an additional bridge adjacent to existing crossings. The purpose of the corridor study would be to pursue these and other alternatives. City of Ramsey 2030 Comprehensive Plan Pg. 6-11