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

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• When trains are crossing CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard, emergency vehicles are forced to wait for the end of the train to pass before proceeding. To reach Mercy Hospital,the nearest hospital to the City of Ramsey,vehicles must either cross the railroad tracks on CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard, or they can travel to the nearest grade-separated crossing of the railroad tracks which is either at CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard,which is about one and one-tenth miles to the west, or at Thurston Avenue in the City of Anoka,more than two miles to the east. Please see Figure 3 attached which shows the locations of emergency responder base stations in relation to area at- grade and grade-separated railroad crossings and their primary destination,Mercy Hospital. Falling Traffic Operations • Traffic volumes on CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard are expected to increase from 9,000 vehicles per day today to more than 15,000 vehicles per day by 2030 as the COR development is built out. Traffic volumes on US 10 are expected to increase from 44,000 today to 54,000 vehicles per day by 2030.' • The preemption cycle for the railroad requires several cycles to resume normal patterns and vehicles on CSAH 56 sometimes must wait for multiple cycles to get through the intersection. When this happens,motorists become frustrated and begin to take more risks and run red lights. • At-grade pedestrian crossings currently exist across the BNSF railway crossing on CSAH 56/ Ramsey Boulevard. Pedestrians are currently forced to wait up to several minutes to cross as trains pass by at speeds in excess of 50 mph. • The Northstar Commuter Rail Station at Ramsey is located approximately halfway between CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard and CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard. The location of this station relative to the track circuits for the CSAH 56/Ramsey Boulevard and CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard crossings can cause false triggers for the gate crossings. Based on field observations, a Northstar train approaching the stop can cause a false trigger of the downstream crossing. The false trigger does not occur with every Northstar train and is likely linked to the amount of time it takes for the train to stop and load/unload passengers. The false triggers last roughly one minute, at which point the gates are immediately triggered again once the train leaves the station. These false triggers disrupt the traffic signal on US 10 by requiring the railroad signal preemption to reoccur,creating further delay for motorists and other users of the intersection. The false trigger does not occur with Amtrak or freight trains because they do not stop in the area. As shown in Table 1 below,the proposed project addresses numerous safety, emergency response, and traffic operations issues,in addition to reducing emissions,providing a safe way for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the BNSF Railway crossing,and improving economic development opportunities in Ramsey's COR. 1 Source:Anoka.County 2030 Transportation Plan. US 10/CSAH 56 FASTLANE Application 8 City of Ramsey