Minor Amendment-MUSA Expansion Requests

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; A possible explanation for why the TH 10 congestion problem was not identified in the Anoka Co.unty Transportation Plan relates to the use of socioeconomic forecasts. The county's plan used population and employment forecasts for the city of Ramsey that were significantly lower than the year 2010 forecasts currently used by the city. The congestion problem on TH 10 would have been significantly. greater had the higher city forecasts been used in the county plan. The city of Ramsey,is only requesting a 44-acre MUSA expansion which will be developed at relatively low densities. The specific number of trips or when these trips will appear on TH 10 is not completely defined in the plan amendment. The additional 48 single family dwelling units will generate approximately 480 daily vehicle trips. The majority of these trips will use TH 10. Approximately 60 to 80 vehicle trips will be generated in each of the AM and PM peak periods by the residential development. The 21-acre commercial and industrial area will potentially be the site of 646 employees. On average, this development could generatf~ 5880 daily trips. The city estimates that 80 percent of these trips would be made at least in part on TH 10. This equals 4700 trips. Assuming 90 percent of the workers come to work each day during the AM peak period, an additional 646 person trips would be generated from 540 vehicle trips. The average capacity of a highway lane on an expressway such as TH 10 is approximately 1200 vehicle per hour. Although the 44-acre MUSA expansion can possibly be accommodated today on TH 10, the potential exists for these and other planned land uses to have a negative impact on this metropolitan highway. The city needs to complete a comprehensive traffic analysis that evaluates the potential impact of planned land uses on TH 10 before further MUSA expansions can be granted. Aviation (Chauncey Case) The Gateway Airport is located in the city of Ramsey and is part of the metropolitan aviation system. In 1991, the Gateway Airport was closed. It appears that the airport has been removed from the city's comprehensive plan maps. The Council is amending the Aviation Guide Chapter and now would be a good time to remove the Gateway Airport from the regional system. The city of Ramsey should officially notify the Council of the status of Gateway Airport. If the property owners and city have no intention of every sponsoring or maintaining a private or public-owned airport, the city should request that the Council remove it from the metropolitan aviation system plan. Parks (Florence Myslajek) A segment of the proposed North Mississippi Regional Trail is located on the property the city of Ramsey has proposed for addition to the MUSA The city has adopted an ordinance which describes the alignment and right-of-way width for the proposed regional trail. The ordinance was reviewed by the Metropolitan Council and Anoka County prior to adoption by the city. Approval of this section of the trail alignment is part of the city's process of providing trail right-of-way in accord with the ordinance. / 8