Agenda - Council Work Session - 10/12/2021

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September 11, 2021 Page 88 Conclusions As noted in the introduction, this study does not include a project recommendation. The study's results are presented as findings regarding the region's land use and planning context, prior transportation studies, travel patterns, current and anticipated mobility challenges, year 2040 traffic forecasts, teleworking rates, and the feasibility of four highway improvement concepts. These conclusions are summarized below. Context Analysis • Northwest metro highways have been studied multiple times over the last 30 years. Most of these studies identify the need for additional highway capacity. • Growth is anticipated to continue in the northwest metro area. Ramsey, Corcoran, and Dayton are among the fastest growing communities in the Twin Cities. • Investments have been made to address congestion and support future growth. Some communities have invested to accommodate a future crossing. Origin -Destination Analysis • Nearly 240,000 daily trips cross the Mississippi River using Highways 101, 169 or 610. • Each crossing performs a unique role in regional travel patterns: o Highway 101 carries the most interregional trips. o Highway 169 is used by many short trips to local destinations. o Highway 610 serves the most commutes to and from the urban core. Congestion Analysis • There is heavy AM and PM peak period congestion in both directions on Highway 169 north of the river and Highway 101 north of the I-94/Highway 101 interchange. • The worst corridor bottlenecks on northwest metro area highways are associated with traffic signals on Highway 169 and on Highway 101 southbound near South Diamond Lake Road. • Highway 101 experiences a significant amount of holiday related congestion due to a four -fold increase in interregional traffic. Concept Development • A total of 14 highway improvements were screened for consistency with local & regional planning, residential and community impacts, and natural resource impacts. • Improvements carried forward from the screening were packaged into four concepts. o Concept 1: Mobility improvements on Highways 10 and 101 o Concept 2: Mobility improvements on Highways 10, 101, and 610 o Concept 3: Arterial river crossing following the Zanzibar/Armstrong alignment o Concept 4: Expressway river crossing following the Zanzibar/Armstrong alignment • Estimated net cost of the concepts range between $170M and $350M • All segments improved under Concepts 1 or 2 were found to be "under capacity" post improvement but had minimal impact on river crossing congestion. Northwest Metro Mississippi River Crossing Feasibility Analysis