Agenda - Council - 02/26/2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comment 6.1: The proposed Ramsey Town Center development proposes a mix of housing and commercial development, on a massive scale, with 2,400 "attached" residential units, and 1,651,000 square feet of commercial, industrial and institutional area. The Town Center development appears highly likely to significantly increase demand on already -congested roadways at TH 10-Ramsey Blvd. intersection, and the TH 10- Sunfish Lake Blvd. intersection - both of which will provide access to the development. TH 10 is an Interregional Corridor (IRC). Mn/DOT plans in 2004 to rebuild Ramsey Blvd. traffic signals, and extend turn lanes. We do not believe that this modest improvement will solve the deterioration in level of service that is likely to occur at this intersection once the Town Center development is complete. Further, in 2005, Mn/DOT plans to upgrade traffic signals, and extend TH 10 turn lanes serving the Sunfish Lake Blvd. NW intersection. Again, we do not believe that these improvements, even though they are clearly needed, will provide a complete solution for the existing, and likely future traffic congestion at this intersection. Since there is no imminent plan for major improvements to these intersections, such as the construction of interchanges, we need to work together with the City and County to find ways of providing additional roadway transportation infrastructure that will add capacity to these intersections in advance of further development. We would like to work with the City of Ramsey to explore additional funding for local and regional roadway improvements as well as initiatives that restrict the size and intensity of developments to ensure that a certain minimum level of service is maintained. Such initiatives might include binding agreements with developers where additional or increased intensity of development will only be allowed with necessary roadway improvements that maintain an acceptable level of service. Mn/DOT contacts are given. Response: The AUAR acknowledges these traffic problems on page 21-7 by noting that the project traffic would cause intersections in the project vicinity on TH 10 to deteriorate to Level of Service F conditions and further notes on page 21-8 that improvements beyond those described by Mn/DOT will be necessary to achieve acceptable operations at these locations. Relative to the need for cooperation in the pursuit of funding, the City of Ramsey is pursuing federal demonstration funding and is working to secure official mapping of the lands between the railroad and TH 10. This is in anticipation of accelerating the TH 10 Interregional Corridor (IRC) improvements that would provide for interchanges at three locations along TH 10 in Ramsey. The City and the project sponsor have initiated discussions with Anoka County and Mn/DOT to: evaluate phasing requirements for the suggested transportation mitigation; and explore funding strategies for the mitigation that include reimbursement mechanisms to allow the project to accelerate various elements of regional roadway improvements that would ultimately be programmed via the regional transportation planning process. Comment 6.2: On page 17-10, the AUAR shows an increase in the run-off rate to Mn/DOT Right of Way. The run-off to Mn/DOT Right of Way must not be increased, and drainage patterns must be perpetuated. The development will probably need a drainage permit. When the final AUAR is submitted, it should be accompanied by drainage area maps, and storm drainage maps, and computations for 10-year and 100- 34-5