04-26-2004 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

r I. EXfflBIT B REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION DATE: May 27,2003 ITEM NO.: Department Approval: Name Gregory A. Cappa Title Director of Public Services Administrator Reviewed:Agenda Section: Public Services Director's Report Item Description: Navarre Crosswalk and Bus Shelter Project There is an existing County Road IS crosswalk located nearD’vinci’s restaurant, and an existing bus shelter located on the south side of County Road 15 west of the Keaveny building. The bus shelter is not located in a desirable area as it is isolated in a poorly lighted area with woods a.nd a steep slope directly behind it. The crosswalk is also not located near the center of the business district as it is too far west. A crosswalk location closer to the center of the business district would be a more convenient location and would provide better access to the businesses Also, the crosswalk is located in the middle of the block which is not the most desirable area from a driver expectation viewpoint. Crosswalks are normally located at street intersections and this is where motorists expect to see them. The City parking lot behind the buildings, on the north side of the road, is used as a Park and Ride lot for commuters catching the eastbound buses in the morning. The crosswalk is in a poor location and is not used by many of the commuters because it is located in the opposite direction from the bus stop as people exit tlie parking lot. Many people just cross Shoreline Drive at the parking lot exit and head toward the bus shelter. The location of the existing crosswalk and the bus shelter have been a concern for number of years. We have met with Hennepin County Highway department personnel to discuss this situation. Hennepin County personnel were favorable to the concept of moving the crosswalk to the west side of the Kelly Avenue/Shoreline Drive intersection provided the bus shelter is also moved to this area. Without moving the bus shelter, it is not worthwhile to move the crosswalk. The County wiil install larger crosswalk signs for the new crosswalk location. We discussed to idea of having a “push button ” system to turn on a Hashing yellow light when a pedestrian is crossing Shoreline Drive. The consensus was that this could create a false sense of safety as the pedestrians may assume the traffic has red light a.nd will stop. There is clearly not enough pedestrian traffic to meet a traffic signal wanant for this crosswalk. Page 1 of 2