10-28-2013 Council Work Session Packet

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� MEMORANDUM TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: JESSE STRUVE, PE SUBJECT: CSAH 112—CONSIDERATION OF OPTIONS DATE: 10/28/13 CC: There have been numerous meetings regarding CSAH 112 and the Council has had very good discussions about associated costs and what can be done to reduce the overall cost to Orono. At the joint Council meeting with Long Lake, Jim Grube (Hennepin County)presented a draft cost estimate for the CSAH 112 Turnback Project. Items to consider include trails, sidewalks, additional lighting, utility burial, and streetscape (landscaping). At the joint meeting, Hennepin County also presented the County will contribute a portion of the overall costs of some of these categories. I would urge the Council to strongly consider this while making your decision as to what should be included in the turnback project. If these items are not added as part of this process, the costs associated with installing them at a later date will be prohibitive. With CSAH 112, Hennepin County is willing to contribute approximately 33% of the overall construction costs for lighting, streetscape, and utility burial and will cover approximately 50% of the sidewalk/trail costs. Furthermore, while Hennepin County is willing to cost share as part of the construction project, they generally do not cost share if the City decides to try to put this in at a later date. Two good examples exist in the Navarre Area. The City is currently trying to replace the lighting and have explored adding a sidewalk to the Luce Line Trail in the past. In both of these cases, since these areas are not part of a road project, Hennepin County is not going to contribute funds for the project. The City did apply for a grant for sidewalk improvements portion of the street light / sidewalk project, but the maximum grant would only cover 25% of the construction costs of the sidewalk portion (approx-$25,000). It is very difficult and expensive to install items outside of when the roadway is reconstructed. CSAH 112 will not get reconstructed again for approximately 50-70 years. Therefore if you think the public will ever want a sidewalk,trail, or additional or decorative lighting along CSAH 112 in the next 50 years, now is the time to do it If the City tries to come back after the fact to install these amenities, it will be considerably more expensive with little to no cost participation from Hennepin County. Another good example was a joint effort by Orono, Tonka Bay, and Shorewood to extend a trail down CSAH 19. Hennepin County provided assistance in preparing a trail study, but it ultimately concluded that unless the trail was part of a comprehensive road project, it was not feasible to install it. This was mainly due to costs associated with the relocation of utility poles. If the trail was part of a transportation