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

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Comment #8. Anoka County submitted the following set of comments: Comment 8.1: There are concerns about several issues related to infrastructure capacity, timing, connections to existing portions of infrastructure, and financing of improvements. We suggest that it would be to the benefit of the City and the developer that the County continues to be involved early in design discussions for this important project in Ramsey. Response: The City of Ramsey is committed to working with the County to address the identified issues. Discussions on transportation and drainage issues have already begun. Comment 8.2: One of the major concerns involves the future function of CSAH 116. The County, along with Mn/DOT and Hennepin County, has been working on a project for another crossing of the Mississippi River. Current plans show the extension of CSAH 116 as the connection for the crossing within the City of Ramsey. Additionally, CSAH 116 has been upgraded to an A Minor Arterial -Reliever. The Reliever status of the road relates to its function as a reliever for TH 10 in this vicinity. Since CSAH 116 is the main roadway through the Ramsey Town Center, traffic patterns and access locations should be reviewed with these system functions in mind. The current number of access points may need to be reconsidered. Response: The AUAR notes on page 21-3 that the river crossing is under study and that Industry Avenue and Armstrong Boulevard would be affected by the potential river crossing, both as to regional function and the amount of traffic in the future. As noted on page 21-4, the timeframe for build -out of the RTC site will occur before the potential river crossing is implemented. The AUAR requirement is for analysis of the project timeframe and any concurrent activities that will affect that timeframe. The potential requirements of the river crossing on the ultimate size of Industry Avenue will be considered as part of the joint City/County/Mn/DOT review of phasing requirements for the project mitigation (also see the response to Mn/DOT Comment #6.1). Comment 8.3: Traffic generation from the Ramsey Town Center is anticipated to be 51,200 trips per day, greater than anticipated by previous land uses. As traffic is analyzed for the development and for the overall area, it will be important to consider a system of local collector streets to preclude an over -dependence on the County Highway System for local trips. Response: The project is adding a system of local and collector streets within the project site to accommodate and disperse project traffic over a series of full and partial access points along the county highways adjacent to the site and the project traffic assignment has incorporated parallel routes (Sunwood Drive) to the extent feasible. Comment 8.4: A minor, but important issue, all County roads bordering the site are designated as A Minor Arterials. At some points in the document, the roads are designated as Principal Arterials. This should be corrected. (See also comment #12.1) Response: The last sentence in the third paragraph on page 21-3 (and the corresponding text in Appendix B) incorrectly states that Anoka County is seeking to change the functional class on Armstrong Boulevard and Industry Avenue to Principal Arterial. 34-12