Agenda - Council - 10/12/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

CASE i9 ~ TRAFFIC CONCERN AT 169TM AVENUE AdND NEON STREET By: Steven J Jankowski, City Engineer Background: The City h~s received a request from the resident at 5866 169th Avenue NW to address a problem .at the intersection of Neon Street and 169th Avenue. This intersection is actually a right angle bend in the roadway where 169th Avenue transforms into Neon Street. The resident lives on the outside corner of this bend and has experienced numerous instances of vehicles sliding off the street and into his yard. Attached to this case is an aerial photo~aph illustrating the area. The radius Of the street bend is approximately 95 feet and does appear to have a slight super'elevation (banking of the curve which permits a faster safe speed). A safe travel spedd for a curve having this radius would be 20 miles per hour. Ther~ are currently no warning signs advising motorists of this bend. Alternatives .Considered: The safe travel speed could be increased by increasing the radius of the crowe, however, the proximity of this intersection to the intersection of 169th Avenue and TH 47 limits the ability to increase this radius to a design speed .of 25 miles per hour or less. Increasing the radius to accommodate this design speed would require the acquisition of approximately 0.15 acres of additional right of way from the property on the northwest corner of the intersection and the reconstruction of about 340 feet of roadway. A second alternative to increasing the safe speed .at this bend would be to increase the superelevation of the existing road way to the maximum permitted limit of 6 percent. Cun'ently the superelevation appears to be about 2 percent. This alternative would- require the reconstruction of about 150 feet of roadway at an estimated cost ranging between $15,000 and $20,000. Additionally it should be noted that reconstruction of this section of roadway would need to be carefully implemented since it is the sole access .source for the entire neighborhood to the east. A temporary roadway may need to be considered as a part of the reconstruction plan. Although there may be a nurnber of vehicles leaving the roadway at this location, a review of the accident history shows no incidents reported to the police department in the past five years. This is not unusual for accidents which involve inconvenience more than injury or property damage. The lack of accident reports limit the ability to analyze the reason for the accident, however, it might be that motorist are caught by surprise by the bend. This could be particularly trde if the accidents are occurring after dark since there is not a street light in the vicinity of the intersection.