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Mr. Dan Erickson Minnesota Department of Transportation May 5. 2003 Page 2 Variance Justification Femdale Road is located on the north side of residences on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, i.e. the residences arc beh^'een Femdale Road and Lake Minnetonka. In the area of the bridge, wetlands and a lagoon are located on the north side of the road. Femdale Road has narrow shoulders, approximately I.S feet, on each side. Outside of the shoulders, the slopes go down to the yards or the wetlands. The area is fairly well developed at this time which reduces the likelihood of increased traffic volumes. Widening of the existing street would require filling of the wetlands and lagoon. This will not occur due to the constant traffic volumes in area and the impacts on the wetlands. Design standards for much of the public infr«.stmcture serving the region have necessarily been compromised to suit the topography. Given the constraints of the existing land use and wetlands, the design standards developed by MnDOT are difficult to comply with and are out of character. Therefore, we outline the following points of justification for the requested variance: 1. Substandard Streets: The streets in the area of the bridge are severely substandard due to the land use and wetlands. The approaching streets on each side of the bridge are slightly over 20 feet in width. The legal posted speed of both approaches is XX mph. A narrow bridge in this setting is consistent with the driving corridor. 2. Avoid Severe Enviroamental Impacts : Widening of the bridge and the approach roadway would significantly impact the adjacent wetlands and lagoon. M inimizing the amount of roadway width will limit the environmental impacts of the project and increase the chances of receiving permits from environmental agencies. 3. Retain Character of the Area: As described in the introduction of this section, the Femdale Road Bridge exists in a quite residential area. We believe that the variance requested will assist us in retaining the character of the area. Impacts of the Variance Economic - The variance would allow s narrower bridge to be constructed. The narrower bridge would be less costly to construct which is a savings for the funding source which is anticipated to be the State Transportation Fund. The narrower bridge would not have any negative economic impact on the adjacent property owners. Social - The variance requested for the proposed bridge would not have any social impacts. Safety - The variance for the proposed bridge will not significantly impact the safety of the public. The proposed bridge is about 4 feet wider than the existing bridge. Therefore, the wider bridge will improve the safety of the site as compared to the existing conditions. Environmental - The variance for the proposed bridge would have positive environmental impacts. The variance would significantly reduce the amount of wetland area that would need to be filled by maintaining the same approach roadway width.