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Mr. Bruce Westby, PE <br />March 21, 2017 <br />Page 3 <br />traffic in the AM peak hour and for westbound traffic in the PM peak hour during <br />fall -winter months). <br />For northbound CSAH 83, sight distance is somewhat limited due to a sweeping <br />north -to -west horizontal curve that begins approximately 300 feet north of the <br />intersection. However, there are no impediments to sight distance in the median <br />area and no trees or other topography exist to the north on either side of the <br />roadway that limit sight distance for northbound left turning traffic at the <br />intersection (northbound left turning traffic can see oncoming traffic clearly for at <br />least the minimum stopping sight distance required at the posted 55 mph speed <br />limit). <br />Based on this information, available stopping sight distance meets this criteria <br />for each intersection approach. <br />Based on the recent crash history at this intersection, no crashes were reported on <br />the State of Minnesota's crash web site between 2011 and 2015. Thus, there <br />does not appear to be a safety concern at this intersection with the presence <br />of signalized operation. <br />• One of the recommendations from the MnDOT Traffic Signal Timing and <br />Coordination Manual is to utilize protected left turn phasing only either for <br />situations where the posted speed limit exceeds 45 mph and the peak hour left <br />turning volume is greater than 240 vehicles per hour, or for when the cross <br />product between left turning traffic volume and opposing through traffic volume <br />exceeds 80,000. With regards to the most recent available traffic counts: <br />a. Between the hours of 4:00 pm-5:00 pm of the most recent traffic counts, <br />westbound Sunwood Drive left turn volumes were near 130 vehicles per hour. <br />No other intersection approach exceeded 65 left turning vehicles per hour <br />during the PM peak period. <br />b. For the midday and AM peak hour counts, no intersection approach had left <br />turning traffic volumes that exceeded 70 vehicles per hour. <br />c. The cross product between left turn traffic volumes and opposing through <br />traffic volumes never exceeded 25,000 for any hour counted in 2016. <br />Following up against the flashing yellow arrow criteria from the MnDOT Traffic Signal Timing <br />and Coordination Manual: <br />1. Left turn lanes line up well for each intersection approach with sufficient turning <br />room in the intersection so that left turn paths were not conflicting. This was <br />observed specifically for the westbound dual left turn lane/eastbound single left turn <br />