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Home My WebLink About20070917 - VII-2 VII-2 MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers Dave Osberg, City Administrator September 13, 2007 Special City Council Workshop-Highway #61 Bridge City Councilmembers are reminded of the special City Council workshop scheduled for Monday September 17,2007 at 6:00 PM in the Chambers at the Hastings City Hall for purposes of discussing the proposed improvements in 2008 for the Highway #61 Bridge. Ken Johnson from the Minnesota Department of Transportation will be in attendance at the meeting, along with other Staff members from MnDOT. On August 20, 2007 a meeting was conducted at the Hastings City Hall with a variety of City, County and State officials discussing the proposed improvements to the Highway #61 Bridge, scheduled for 2008. MnDOT officials would like to discuss with the City Council the proposed project, schedule and options for diverting traffic during the improvement project. While there may be some additional options to consider, generally, the two main options under consideration are as follows: A.) Closing the bridge to one lane, and alternating traffic, similar to that which the City experiences during bridge inspections. Should this alternative be selected, the project is expected to take about 3.5 months. The alternating traffic would be 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and contractors working about 20 hours each day. There would be some total closure of the bridge with this option, for certain periods of time, such as weekends. Traffic congestion similar to that which is experienced during bridge inspection would be duplicated under this option, (approximately 4 or 5 times) for a more extended time frame, and throughout the entire day-night. B.) Another option would result in total closure of the bridge, 24 hours a day; seven days a week. Should this option be selected, the project is expected to take about 2.5 months, or approximately one month shorter than the alternating traffic option identified above. Under either option, it is expected that emergency vehicle access will be retained throughout the entire length of the project. Chamber of Commerce officials at the meeting suggested they would attempt to work around any scheduling conflicts associated with Rivertown Days. Representatives from the Hastings Bus Company indicated that should there be a disruption to their transportation plan, they would prefer such disruption take place in the spring, towards the end ofthe school year, rather than at the beginning of the school year, which is challenging enough with new students, routes etc. As the planning for this project requires a significant amount of time and coordination, the officials from the Minnesota Department of Transportation are interested in receiving feedback and direction from the City of Hastings in a timely manner. The regular City Council meeting agenda for September 17,2007 includes an agenda item allowing for continuation of the discussion on the Highway #61 Bridge, which will likely include an opportunity for public comment, should time not allow during the workshop session. Attached to this memorandum is a summary of comments received by the Hastings Chamber of Commerce staff, after having distributed a memorandum advising the membership of the issue, and the scheduled meeting of the City Council. HASTINGS AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & TOURISM BUREAU .................. --- - on the Mississippi Date: To: From: Re: September 11, 2007 Hastings City Council and City Administrator Michelle Jacobs BUSINESS RESPONSES TO BRIDGE REPAIR OPTIONS ,"k ~.'. The Chamber provided our members with the opportunity to give their feedback on what scenario they would like to see in regard to the proposed 2008 bridge repairs. Their comments included preferences based on the options presented at the meeting held on August 20th at City Hall, as well as other options they would like the Hastings City Council and MnDot Representatives to consider. I have included their written responses, and also summarized the verbal comments I have received. There is significant concern over the fact that this type of restriction will be taking place 24/7 for up to 3 Y2 months. The timeline is also a concern. While there is a desire to work with School District #200 and Hastings Bus Company to limit the amount of time students are spending on busses, there is a strong opposition to having the project take place only over the summer months. There were questions raised if School Buses could be treated like emergency vehicles and be given the authority to use the shoulder or some other means of express entrance to the bridge, thus shortening their wait, but allowing the work to be done during the March - June timeframe. There is concern that more thought is being given to the issue this might cause for some students vs. the economic impact this could have on several hundred businesses. The loss of commerce during the summeroii which is the peak sales time for the Downtown area, could be too extensive for some of them to survive. All of the business owners or managers responding had significant concern about the loss of revenue they would sustain as a result of the delays. There was also concern regarding the additional commute time or gasoline expense for their employees who commute across the bridge. There was also some concern that their employees might look for employrnent elsewhere to avoid three months of delays and long commutes. Another concern is the potential permanent loss of customers. Hastings businesses have a large customer base from Denmark Township and the Prescott area. Once those individuals start to shop in Cottage Grove or Woodbury to avoid the back up, they may not come back to Hastings once the bridge re-opens. That being said, they understand the need for maintenance and if closure had to take place they could support having one lane open at all times. There was very little support of complete closure. There was also more support for having the work completed by early summer than having it take place over the entire summer. They felt there could be some type of accommodation made for school buses. 111 East Third Street. Hastings, MN 55033-1211 . Phone (651) 437-6775 . (888) 612-6122. Fax (651) 437-2697 www.hastingsmn.org.info@hastingsmn.org The following emails were received. Our feeling on the bridge closure is that closing the bridge all together is wrong. We are open in the summer from about the 2nd week of June until the middle of July for strawbeny picking. People will not drive an additional 25 miles to get to our place. They will wait in line for a while but not drive that much farther. That would reallv hurt our business, and we are seasonal to begin with. It's bad enough now that Highway 95 is closed at Highway 61, and that was suppose to be done in July! They just keep postponing it, now because of the bridge inspections and then the new construction that is to begin on the median on 61. On a personal level, we bank in Hastings, grocery shop in Hastings, vehicle repairs in Hastings, milk co-op in Hastings, nails done in Hastings, Rivertown Days in Hastings, you get my point We are part of Hastings and try to spend our money there. This would hurt all of us who live north of the bridge in Denmark Township. I know there are several people who live here and work at the courthouse. We feel that closing to I lane is bad enough, but closing it all together for any length of time is a bad idea! Cindy, Afron Apple Orchard ****** The bridge is critical to my business. There is a significant population living North of the bridge - we would like to continue to be able to deliver to that area A complete closure ofthe bridge would eliminate that possibility. We would prefer to see the same situation we just experienced - one lane at a time alternating traffic........from approximately 9am - 3pm (or earlier!). I also have 2 key employees who live North of the bridge. [fthey had to do a 25 mile detour to get here, [ fear [might lose them. Thanks for advocating for businesses. My business would also appreciate the work to be done during the summer months. Leslie Nielsen, Meloy Park Florist ****** Thanks for putting together the informative memo re the bridge. I would state that [thought replacement of the bridge was going to happen within the next few years. [must have had bum information. With respect to the closure / work, [ would vote for the alternating north - south single lane option we had during the inspection. A 25 mile detour is simply more than [ think people / businesses can handle. The 4 week time savings does not seem worth it to me, as by that point people will be used to the single lane headaches. Thanks again for spearheading this for all of us. Nicholas G. B. May ****** I) What's cost for new bridge? 2) What would timeline for new bridge installation? 3) What's cost for repairs to existing bridge? [f#'s worked, accelerate the time line for building new bridge using savings of the repair cost If you really wanted to get fancy, you could add in lost time due to detours and/or waiting. Build new now and then there's no delay at all. State probably doesn't have money. There have been some scenarios where either counties front the $. Now sure how popular that is. I'm sure there are multiple reasons why that plan wouldn't work; but the existing scenarios as outlined in your memo aren't too attractive. No name ****** Our preference would be to have traffic go both directions throughout the project, even if it caused delays of 45 minutes while waiting for alternating lanes to cross the bridge. Impact to Embarq would be significant even in this scenario; we have many business and residential customers north of the river and service calls to them could be significantly delayed. Additionally, resolving emergency outages would be severely hampered through any kind of delay; we have had cable cuts, pedestals knocked over and other assorted mass outages, and a technician almost always is dispatched from the Hastings location for repair. [t has happened that Outages on the north side of the river have cut off services to core Hastings on the south side of the river. [think that complete closure of the bridge would be unacceptable to us and our customers, as our technicians would not be able to respond to Emergency situations at all, and would be seriously hampered in providing many other timely services to our customers. Considering mileage, value of technicians' time, and risks in the extra 50-mile round trip for the major detour, I think we'd take our chances on a 45-minute wait for alternating traffic over the bridge. They would always have the option of taking a detour if it seemed more advisable at the moment Thanks for the chance at input Let me know if you need clarification on anything. Karyn ****** I feel that the bridge should remain open during the repairs. People then have the option of waiting or taking the longer route. Diane Radke, Trophies Plus Closing the bridge completely would be devastating for my business in that I have emplorees that live in western WI and there drive time would increase dramatically. I would be at risk oflosing them to one of my competitors north of Hastings. Not to mention the cost increase on all the business we do in western WI. The alternating traffic on one lane seems like the only answer to me. Yes the time line on the repair will take longer, but it is much more manageable for us. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to respond. Todd Spaeth, APL Fabricators Inc ****** I don't think closing the bridge is an option. We need one lane and if it takes more time to repair, that would save us all time and gas money! Also, the businesses would suffer. That's my opinion! Deanna Petterson ****** Yikes, that will be tough on my business! Is there any possibility of having both lanes open during rush hours, Maybe 7 to 9 a.m. and J to 5 p.m.? How about a new high speed Ferry? Doug Erickson - Hastings Ford and Hastings Chrysler ****** Regina prefers a complete closure to shorten the overall project time. We understand that even with a complete closure, emergency vehicles (ambulances) would still get through. We have 700 employees. Many of them use the bridge. Let's get it done as quickly as possible without the opening and closing and one-way confusion that would result if we didn't close the bridge. Mark Wilson ****** The closing of the bridge has no impact on my work or direct impact on our business operations. There may be some time when I would be delayed or inconvenienced with either option. I guess I would be most concerned about safety issues or the need to evacuate for some reason. Thanks for asking and I guess others will have more significant insight. Tara Donahue Weis, United Way of Hastings ******. Thank you for informing us about this issue and we appreciate your willingness to compile and fOlWard comments to the Hasting City Council from the business community. We would request that one lane of traffic remain open. Closing the bridge completely would create hardships for our business for several reasons: I. We make frequent catering trips to the Hastings area and a closure would likely preclude us from most catering activities due to the financial and operational burdens. 2. We offer frequent public cruises to Treasure Island Casino. As a result, we must drive a vehicle to the casino for operational reasons and a closure would also create financial and operational burdens. 3. We contract with busing companies that bring people to Treasure Island Casino and pick up guests from Treasure Island Casino as a part of our cruise package to the casino. A closure may preclude us from conducting our cruises to the casino because of complications with bussing the guests. This would create a significant loss ofrevenue to our business. Also, as a council member for the City of Lakeland Shores I understand issues that communities face and one thought that comes to mind is how emergency response would be also be impacted if a closure would occur. I certainly don't have the background information on this issue that the City does, but I would only assume that there would be major concerns with fire, ambulance and police services and any other emergency response organizations. Again I thank the City for considering the impact on the business community. This would truly have an adverse impact on our business. Most Sincerely, Dave Jarvis I President Afion House Inn ****** There are a number of questions that are raised by this decision. I would think that this will greatly impact most businesses in Hastings that have customers living North outside the community. I have a large Prescott customer and a large number of my employees live either in Prescott or Cottage Grove. What is the MN DOT plan beyond the next ten years? I thought that Hastings a section of the Twin Cities that was expected to grow due to growth needs. What other details do you have? I'm sure that this will effect my business. This is something I may want to talk to my leadership about Thanks, Boyice Williams Store Manager, Hastings Wal-Mart SuperCenter ****** This has so little impact on me that I should not respond. [f it was closed for two months the people north of the bridge would not be able to run back and forth during non peak times which would be a great inconvenience. [f they cut the repair time in half for complete shut down I would be in favor of that (like six weeks). Jim Weinzettel ****** The school district understands that there is not a great solution to this needed repair. We will adjust to whatever decision is made by the City Council. Thanks for asking the opinions of those impacted. Tim Collins ****** Given the fact that the work on the bridge is not going to be done during the school year, my thinking is that it would be best to completely shut it down during reconstruction. [know this will affect traffic coming from Cottage Grove and Denmark Township very adversely, but any traffic coming from north of those two communities can utilize the 52/55 corridor with relative ease. [think the shortened time for repair would compensate for Denmark and CG's temporary inconvenience. George May ****** [s itpossible for the repair to occur during the evening and early morning hours during the summer? Daylight is longer and earlier. Has that been suggested? That would be the least disruptive. Don KramIinger ****** As a business manager in downtown Hastings we would be greatly impacted by the complete closing of the bridge. Approximately 1/3 of our business comes from across the bridge, Cottage Grove and Prescott, WI. [f the bridge were to be closed during the summer, our customers would go north to Woodbury, Oakdale, etc. to our competitors. [ concur that the students should not sit on buses for delays during the school year. Why not adopt the policy in other parts ofthe Metro area and do most ofthe work at night? The hours of lOpm - 5am are when the major work is completed on bridgeslbusy roads elsewhere so why not here in Hastings? The delays during the inspection were a real pain in the neck, but not abominable. Having at least a lane open during the 9am - 3pm time frame would be better than a total shut down. Perhaps a two-shift idea where certain work is done between 9am - 3pm and the majority done at night These are my thoughts. Thanks for your consideration. Lee Swenson, The Route Bike Shop ****** Wow - I guess none of the options are very appealing but full closure would be a killer. Do they ever work at night? Richard Welshons DCA Title ****** I've talked to a number of my employees and we feel the best option would be to close the bridge entirely except for emergency vehicles. Kim Beise ****** Thanks for the infonnation on the bridge repairs. It is my opinion that MoDot needs to place signs farther south on Vennillion Street advising drivers that they need to be in the left lane ONLY if they are northbound from Hastings. The right lane should be for local traffic ONLY. [ travel on Highway 61 back and forth to my business, and several times during the last inspection, was caught up in a situation where a car or large truck blocked the right lane purposefully thinking that the cars going by on the right were sneaking in at the bridge. The signs should be back at least to 15th Street northbound. Thanks, Steve Smidt Speaking as a Business person, I would not want to shut the Bridge completely down or eyen have the traffic going just I direction during different times of the day. We have several employees that live in Cottage Grove that would be seriously impacted. It seems like even though there is a delay, with the 1 lane at a time option, the bridge is still available to cross and they can adjust their times accordingly and deal with the situation that way rather than have to drive an additional 25 miles each way. I believe that a complete closure of the bridge would allow for a safer work environment for the repair crew. I also believe that this would allow for a higher quality of work. The delays that seem to occur with a one lane bridge do not seem to differ much from an alternate route. Cory Schield Active Cabling Technologies Inc. ****** I received the Bridge Letter from a co-worker of mine. I see that you asked for input, so I thought [ would give you mine. [live in Cottage Grove and cross the bridge twice a day to get to and from Smead Manufacturing for work. Closing the bridge completely for three and a half months would be a huge inconvenience not only for me, but for many others at Smead as well. Closing the bridge down to one lane would be much better than closing it all together. I don't feel that making people drive an hour to work when it normally takes 15 to 20 minutes is right [would much rather have to wait in traffic for 10 minutes than go around the other way. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I think it's great you are giving people notice and asking for input Sincerely, Leiann Wright, Marketing Associate - The SMEAD MANUFACTURING COMP ANY ****** Thanks for letting us know about the bridge plans. We have daily trips to the Twin Cities to deliver clients to work and pick them up again. However, we feel we can use Highway 55 or cross the bridge before work is started in the morning and come back after work on it is completed for the day. I do feel it best to have one lane open so that a person could get across and go North, even with a wait. I think doing it in the summer would be a good idea also. Dakota County Receiving and Cochran Programs ****** I don't think closing the bridge for the entire project would be appropriate. I would like to see alternating the traffic as it was recently, but if they could alternate every 10-15 minutes and whatever the wait is that's what it is. Unfortunately there is no good solution. Doug ****** I really feel that the Hastings bridge cannot close. [feel there are several reasons that it should remain open, I think the most important one is the safety issue for those who live in denmark township. After the initial days of traffic nightmare; people will adapt to the single lane factor and adjust there schedules. I would like to have both lanes opened when there not working on it Similar to the inspection process. Michelle, we conducted an informal survey on the bridge repair issue. OUt of the six that responded, as it has a definite effect on them, it was 100% in favor of keeping the bridge open with alternating traffic. A couple of verbal comments were made that favor the complete shutdown in order to have the task completed as soon as possible, but those individuals don't rely on that bridge for daily transportation. Hope this helps you. Thanks for including our thoughts. Kathy M. Kolsrud, Executive Assistant, Executive Office - The SMEAD MANUFACTURING COMPANY ****** The complete closure ofthe bridge for 3 112 months would certainly be a disaster. the families and business on the north side of the bridge would be completely cut off from Hastings unless they were willing to take a very long detour. for those of us who can avoid the rush hours we could schedule our business at other times. even during the rush hours we would know we can get across if we are willing to wait. any solution is better than a complete closure! . Dave Harris ****** They should close bridge completely to shorten the repair time frame. I just need plenty of notice when this is going to occur so we have additional drivers and so we can notify customers of rates changes due to traveling the extra miles or additional waiting time if they decide to do the one lane option. Thanks! Randy Triplett, District Manager Waste Management ~ Hastings ****** I DO like the way the State handles the bridge during inspections. Close I lane between 9AM and 3PM (NOT before 9AM and NOT after 3PM). I DO NOT wish the bridge to be completely closed at ANY time. Thanks for your survey. Jerry Fair, Fair Office World ****** My frustration is with the need for extensive repair on the bridge, not only resurfacing. I would like to see another bridge built then opened to traffic while the old bridge is being repaired or re-done. But, since they are not listening to me, I am concerned with what happens to local businesses with a detour, or complete closure to repair. Single lane traffic may lead to increased business for some, but would frustrate me to death if I had to travel in that. And is the bridge really safe? There seems to be no easy answer except for my first suggestion. So my vote would be a new 4 lane bridge. How is that for completely out of the realm of reality at this point. Thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion! Ann Grotjohn ****** We think that closing the bridge completely during construction in an effort to save time would be detrimental to local business. Some of us will be impacted by the construction more than others but regardless the bridge repairs need to be done. We think that the focus needs to be placed on finding a way to manage the repairs without severely impacting the community and its businesses. Closing only one lane at a time still allows access with moderate delays and at least gives people the option. I think people would rather operate at 50% for 4-41/2 months than 0% for 3- 31/2 months? Also, as members ofthe downtown business community we will need to bond together and find creative ways to bring people down here despite the mess, noise and inconvenience that construction brings. Thanks for the opportunity to voice our opinion, Mike Krauth Mobile-Link Wireless ****** Your first email that you sent was fully understood by me. My thought for the bridge would be to keep at least one lane open during the bridge repairs, or one lane open for 2-3 hours in the morning and evening. Michelle Otto, Dockage Coordinator King's Cove Marina ****** IfI understand this correctly, it looks like the project will take 3-3.5 months using the "one lane open / alternating lane" option and 2-2.5 months using the "complete closure" option. AB an interested business person, I'm concerned about any amount of hassle getting into or out of town, BUT I am more concerned about it being impossible for visitors, etc. to get into and out of town at all for 2-2.5 months. Thanks for the opportunity. As you know, no matter what option is chosen, it will present challenges and headaches for many. Ken Linde