Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 02/11/2021

Home

proposed accesses and recommended access restrictions along Bunker Lake Boulevard between Sunfish Lake Boulevard and Armstrong Boulevard. These figures were used to guide discussions in 2020 regarding options for temporary improvements to Bunker Lake Boulevard to accommodate the added traffic from Highway 10. Based on those discussions, three options for completing temporary improvements to Bunker Lake Boulevard were considered including; • Option A: Full shoulder replacement and restriping (est. cost $335K) • Option B: Intersection improvements only (est. cost $220K) • Option C: Intersection improvements with access consolidations (est. cost $110K) City Staff commented on the three options. Staff noted that option C would be the least preferred due to the proposed access closures and consolidations, particularly the access closure to Center Street. Staff was informed that whichever option was chosen, federal funds were identified as the only viable funding source and that if federal funds are used to construct temporary improvements the improvements would need to be removed after the work on Highway 10 was complete. This would increase the cost of the improvements, and would likely not be received well by many due to the throw -away costs involved. Anoka County then decided to lead the proposed interim improvements project to allow the improvements to remain in place after the Highway 10 improvements are complete. This should also allow construction of the permanent improvements to Bunker Lake Boulevard as required by the Ramsey Town Center (RTC) Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) to be delayed for some time depending on the final design of the interim improvements. Attached is a copy of the RTC JPA, which was entered into on April 12, 2005, by and between the County of Anoka and the City of Ramsey. This JPA defines various public works improvements required to support development of RTC (now The COR), along with the required processes and cost -shares associated with the improvements. As noted in the JPA, the City is ultimately required to reconstruct Bunker Lake Boulevard to a 4-lane divided section between Armstrong Boulevard and Ramsey Boulevard. This work is included in the City's 10-year Capital Improvement Program. On January 7th, the City received a concept level layout prepared by Anoka County depicting the proposed interim improvements to Bunker Lake Boulevard to accommodate the anticipated additional traffic from 2022 through 2025. As can be seen, Anoka County used the 2004 SRF study to guide their access restriction design efforts along Bunker Lake Boulevard based on the recommendations of Figures 22 and 23. On January 8th, the City Engineer attended a virtual meeting with Anoka County Staff. During that meeting, Anoka County verified that Bunker Lake Boulevard is not intended to be used as a signed detour route during the Highway 10 improvement projects, but instead is anticipated to be used as a bypass route by motorists trying to avoid delays on Highway 10. Anoka County also explained that Highway 10 will be restricted to one -lane of traffic in each direction during construction in warm weather months, but that two -lanes of traffic in each direction will be maintained during winter months. Anoka County then walked through the interim improvements shown on the attached concept level layout. In general, it was discussed that the interim improvements proposed to Bunker Lake Boulevard between Armstrong Boulevard and Ramsey Boulevard involves adding turn lanes to intersections with City Streets, which will benefit local traffic. The segment of Bunker Lake Boulevard between Ramsey Boulevard and Sunwood Drive was reviewed next, which generally involves temporary access restrictions to Limonite Street and Connexus Energy's access. The City Engineer stated these temporary access restrictions may be opposed to varying degrees by the City and Connexus Energy, even though they are temporary. The segment of Bunker Lake Boulevard between Sunwood Drive and Sunfish Lake Boulevard was then reviewed, which generally involves adding a signal system at Sunwood Drive, and constructing a permanent concrete median island along Bunker Lake Boulevard to restrict movements to/from northbound Bunker Lake Boulevard at ALTRON's access onto Bunker Lake Boulevard (which is their only access), at 143-d Avenue, and at Basalt Street. The City Engineer stated these access restrictions will likely be opposed by many of the businesses, especially since