Agenda - Council - 12/13/2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

• Construction of a grade-separated crossing of CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard under the BNSF Railway tracks, eliminating delays to emergency responders and private, commercial, and transit vehicles due to trains (or stalled vehicles) blocking the crossing, eliminating train/vehicle conflicts and delays, and promoting the safety and efficiency of the freight/passenger rail network,as well as the roadway system. • Construction of the west access for the north US 10 frontage road between Ramsey Boulevard and Sunfish Lake Boulevard,which upon completion will remove 20 private access points from US 10 to improve the overall traffic flow and safety on the highway. • The Highway 10 Access Planning Study implementation plan identifies the completion of this project prior to completing a grade-separation project at the intersection of US 10 and CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard. Completing this project will then allow the City to begin taking steps to grade-separate the intersection of US 10 and CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard. Transportation Challenges Addressed by the Proposed Project Unsafe Intersection: US 10/ CSAH 56 The current configuration of the US 10/CSAH 56 intersection presents several major safety concerns: • US 10 is fatal to pedestrians. Since 2003, four pedestrians have died trying to cross US 10 between the cities of Anoka and Ramsey.The proposed project will further the City's ability to provide a grade-separated crossing of US 10 at CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard in the future to allow pedestrians and bicyclists wishing to access the Mississippi River Trail,Mississippi West Regional Park,The COR,or other local and regional destinations without crossing US 10 at- grade where vehicles are traveling 60 mph. • The BNSF Railway runs parallel to US 10 and crosses CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard about 450 feet north of its intersection with US 10. Long vehicle queues often form during peak travel periods when freight trains are crossing CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard which sometimes results in dangerous situations when queues extend back from the railroad tracks out onto US 10. Though North Dakota oil production has slowed recently,resulting in about 10%fewer trains crossing CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard today than did in 2014,the overall length of the trains has not changed so significant traffic delays and vehicle queues still exist whenever a train crosses CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard. It is also anticipated that the number of trains carrying oil from North Dakota will again increase in the future. For reference,an average of 71 trains cross CSAH 56 today,while in 2014 approximately 81 trains a day (67 freight trains, 12 Northstar trains,and 2 Amtrak trains) crossed CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard,which was about a 40 percent increase in freight traffic over 2012 when an average of 48 freight trains crossed CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard each day. Unreliable Emergency Response US 10/CSAH 56 FAS LANE Application 7 City of Ramsey