Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 02/11/2016

Home

Anoka County Contract No. 2009-0502 op6i coco MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING PURSUANT TO SECTION 4(f) OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 1966 AMONG THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (MN/DOT), THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, (MNDNR), THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL, AND THE COUNTY OF ANOKA REGARDING TRUNK HIGHWAY 10 PRELIMINARY INTERCHANGE DESIGN (S.P. 199-010-09 AND S.P. 02-596-10) CITY OF RAMSEY, COUNTY OF ANOKA, MINNESOTA WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), the County of Anoka and the City of Ramsey in partnership are preparing preliminary engineering and environmental documentation in support of right of way preservation for a future project to convert the segment of Trunk Highway (TH) 10 in Ramsey from an expressway to a freeway, including construction of grade -separated interchanges at County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 56 (Ramsey Boulevard) and CSAH 57 (Sunfish Lake Boulevard) and replacement of direct access to TH 10 with access from frontage/backage roads (Project); and WHEREAS Mississippi West Regional Park (Park) (Figure 1 attached) is located in the Project area vicinity; and WHEREAS, the Project includes the extension of Riverdale Drive west of realigned Ramsey Boulevard, in order to restore access to properties that will lose direct access to TH 10 through its conversion from expressway to freeway; and WHEREAS, the proposed extension of Riverdale Drive severs the corner of land within the Park that is located in the southwest quadrant of the proposed TH 10/Ramsey Boulevard interchange from the remainder of the Park; and WHEREAS the Park is (1) owned by the County of Anoka, (2) part of the regional park system which is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Council, and (3) the site of a native prairie restoration funded by a Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) grant administered by the Minnesota Depai tment of Natural Resources (MnDNR); and WHEREAS, in anticipation of federal funding, the Project is being reviewed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as a Class III Action (Environmental Assessment) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (Statute 42 USC 4321 et seq.); and WHEREAS Section 4(f) legislation as established under the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 (49 USC 303, 23 USC 138) (Section 4[f]) provides protection for publicly owned parks from conversion to a transportation use.