06/03/86 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

v. FINDINGS The charge to the technioal oomMittee was to review the issues and oonditions in the study area and report baok to the task force. During the study 1t was intially beHeved that the report should fOCUS on one or two altemative crossings polnts that were most suitable for more detailed environmental and dealgn study. As a result of evaluatlng the eight candidate crosslngs and three exlsting and one under construction bridges, the technical committee concluded that the entire river oorridor should be divided into segments and priorities seleoted for each segment. The first priority corridor segment would include bridge looations 2 through 7. This segment is that part of the oorridor which I'\IIlS from CR121-Armstrong Blvd. northwest of the TH 169 orosslng to Noble Ave- Crooked Lake Blvd. This segment is between Dayton and Champlin on the west side of the river and RamSey, Anoka and Coon RapidS on the east. TH 169, Ferry 5t. bridge is oentered In the segment. Withln this segment long term demand on TH 169 as well as the ourrent oongestion on the bridge approaches is creatlng the immediate concem of travelers and officals. Issues here triggered this whole study. The technical collllllittee has JIlllde the following findiDgS regardlng the first priority segment and identified short and long range actions appropriate to the flndings. Flndings: The analysis of future development shows a long term lncrease in north south travel deJllllnd centered In this oorridor. Due to conoentration of trip ends on both sides of the river within five or fewer miles, the shortest travel path for 60,000 or so daily trips by the year 2000 will be on the TH 169 bridge and the roads connectlng to it. Demand on the TH 169 bridge will be about 40,000 trips per day through 1990- 95. HnIDOT malntains that this demand could be adequately served with lane improvements to Ferry St. and major lntersection ohannelization and turn lanes. Suoh a project was origlnally proposed at a oost of $500,000. LocallY generated demand, that is travel from within the study area, is an important souroe of the additional travel leading to the need for more capacity. The year 2000 demand (60,000 trips) will exoeed the existlng TH 169 bridge and approach route oapaoity even with the availability of the new river orosslng at TH 610 to the south. Any other orosslng nearby diverts some of that demand, but if' looated too f'ar away from TH 169, will not divert travel. Due to its direot oonneotion to a major metropolitan roadway, the TH 169 bridge orossing draws more demand than alternatives 1ntended to divert trips from it. The TH 169 bridge ranked lowest as an altemative looation f'or increased oapaoity. 34 ~I -