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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVIII-A-01 - Resolution - Highway 316 City Council Memorandum To: Mayor Hicks & City Council Members From: Nick Egger – Public Works Director Date: November 27, 2018 Item: Consider Resolution of Support – MnDOT Highway 316 Recommended Scope of Improvements COUNCIL ACTION REQUESTED Council is requested to consider the attached resolution indicating support of the recommended project scope for changes to Highway 316 by MnDOT, scheduled for construction in 2021. BACKGROUND The City and MnDOT have been working through a scoping study of the project corridor for the last 12 month, with public feedback solicited at open house meetings in February and August, online solicitation through MnDOT’s project website, and direct meetings with locally impacted business interests and the Chamber of Commerce. The City has also held three City Council workshops for direct interaction between the project team and elected officials. Early on and throughout this process, four predominant areas of concern became very evident. • Ability to access Highway 316, particularly for left-turns • Safety • Lack of Pedestrian & Bicyclist facilities • Traffic Speeds In receiving this feedback, the project management team worked extensively to develop a matrix of potential solutions and evaluated those solutions for their effectiveness at addressing the concerns. These options were aired before the public at-large during an open house held on August 21st, and presented for feedback using interactive tools through MnDOT’s project website. Taking the stakeholder engagement further, MnDOT and the City reached out to the Industrial/Business Park community in early September and once again in mid-November to explain the concepts, the rationale behind their selection, and their effectiveness at addressing the predominant concerns. The team also presented analysis results and design details to businesses who had operational concerns about the roundabout concept at Spiral Boulevard to gain an improved level of comfort with that option. The recommended project scope is a result of these outreach efforts and the careful and detailed analysis work conducted by the project management team. KEY PROJECT DESIGN FEATURES ROUNDABOUT INTERSECTION CONTROLS ▪ Locations would be at Spiral Boulevard, Tiffany Drive, and Tuttle Drive. ▪ Compact design that fits almost entirely within existing right of way, minimizing the need for property acquisition. ▪ Will work as effectively as full-sized roundabouts at managing both present and projected traffic. ▪ Fully effective at handling large trucks, with surmountable center island. VIII-A-01 ▪ Addresses access difficulties for side streets, providing acceptable gaps in traffic for both present and future traffic volumes. ▪ Analysis shows effectiveness at facilitating traffic regardless of future changes to traffic control method at Highway 61 and Highway 316 intersection. ▪ Provides traffic calming and tempering of vehicle speeds. ▪ Provides improved locations for pedestrian crossing activity to occur due to slower speeds and refuge islands. MEDIAN ISLANDS & ACCESS RESTRICTIONS ▪ Improves safety by limiting locations where left turns can occur and minimizes risk-taking opportunities. ▪ Used in conjunction with roundabouts, U-turns are made possible by traveling a slightly increased distance in opposite direction. ▪ Enhances restriction of lanes, inducing calming of traffic speeds. ▪ Provides refuge area for locations of pedestrian crossing activity. PEDESTRIAN & BICYCLE TRAILS ▪ On each side of Highway 316 from 31st to the south. ▪ Includes connections with Civic Arena area and with existing trails at south end of City. ▪ Extends off-street facilities and connectivity with MRT Trail system. ▪ Provides students a path to walk to bus stops and may provide opportunity for changes in pick-up/drop-off location of school buses. ESTIMATED COSTS & FUNDING MnDOT estimates the cost of implementing the recommended design to be in the range of $4.5-$5.6 Million. MnDOT presently has $2.4 Million allocated towards the portion of the project within the City limits, with the remainder of presently available funding going towards the mill and overlay portion of the project south of town. MnDOT cost-share policy would require the City to fund a minimum of $500,000, and perhaps up to $610,000 if actual project costs fall near the higher end of the estimate. This would leave a remaining gap in funding of $1.65-$2.55 Million. MnDOT has expressed openness to partnering with the City and our State elected officials to pursue funding to close this gap in the upcoming legislative sessions, but will need a City resolution of support for the project to begin that process. The City also would have options at its disposal for contributing more of its own funds towards closing the gap, such as its State Aid for Local Transportation account, or through allocating capital funds in future budget years. SCHEDULE This project is scheduled in MnDOT’s State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to be under construction in 2021. Leading up to that point in time, MnDOT must work diligently on final design preparation, funding allocations, right of way acquisitions, and project bidding, all of which will take two years from start to finish. VIII-A-01 STAFF RECOMMENDATION The recommended design concept has been carefully analyzed and studied, vetted by the general public, business community, and technical professionals; it best addresses the most prominent concerns identified through the public engagement process. Implementing the design at this time is a collective opportunity for both MnDOT and the City to significantly resolve persistent traffic and safety issues along this section of Highway 316 for the foreseeable future, and to take advantage of some funding streams that would otherwise not be made available under standard MnDOT project prioritization structure. With these things in mind, staff recommends the Council adopt the enclosed resolution expressing support for the recommended project scope. If Council support is not provided on the recommended improvements as a result of this process, MnDOT intends to move forward with a mill & overlay of the corridor and not return to this corridor for the life of that improvement (15 to 20 years). VIII-A-01 CITY OF HASTINGS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE RECOMMENDED SCOPE AND FEATURES FOR THE 2021 TRUNK HIGHWAY 316 IMPROVEMENTS WHEREAS, The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) proposes to make certain improvements on a portion of Trunk Highway 316 located in the City of Hastings under State Project (S.P.) 1926-22 in the year 2021; and WHEREAS, MnDOT and the City facilitated an extensive public engagement process to gather feedback and concerns of the public for purposes of developing recommended design concepts that would best address their inputs, and WHEREAS, the predominate concerns expressed by the public were Access to Trunk Highway 316, Safety, Pedestrian Facilities, and Vehicle Speeds; and WHEREAS, the public engagement, technical design, and analysis process have together yielded a recommended layout concept that collectively addresses the aforementioned concerns to a significant and reasonable extent; and WHEREAS, The City of Hastings supports the inclusion, in this project letting, of improvements along Trunk Highway 316 located within the City Limits of Hastings that address the concerns expressed during the public engagement process; and WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Transportation Policy and Procedures for Cooperative Construction Projects with Local Units of Government, the City will have a participation in the cost for this work and the City share for this work. WHEREAS, MnDOT has requested that the City formally indicate its intent to participate in the costs of the improvements in accordance with MnDOT’s “Policy and Procedures for Cooperative Construction Projects with Local Units of Government” dated January 19, 2016. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HASTINGS AS FOLLOWS; that 1. The City of Hastings hereby supports the implementation of the recommended project scope and layout for improvements along Trunk Highway 316 as herein described and presented by MnDOT. 2. Following approval by the Minnesota Department of Transportation of plans and specifications for the improvement of said trunk highway and City Street, before a contract is awarded for the construction of said improvements, the City shall enter into an agreement with the State which shall provide that the City shall pay its share of the cost of the requested improvements as determined by the State in accordance with the latest “Policies and Procedures for Cooperative Construction Projects with Local Units of Government” (a copy of which has been received by the City). 3. The City will work in partnership with MnDOT and State elected officials in pursuit of additional outside financial resources to assist with covering project funding gaps. ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF HASTINGS, MINNESOTA, THIS 3RD DAY OF DECEMBER, 2018 Ayes: Nays: Paul J. Hicks, Mayor ATTEST: Julie Flaten, City Clerk SEAL VIII-A-01