07-14-2003 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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There are already concerns about Irafllc safety at this intersection, as in the past several years there have been numerous personal injury accidents and two traffic fatalities at this intersection. I lennepin County recently completed traffic counts at the County Road 6/Willow Drive intersection, and the traffic counts did not justify a signal at this time. A peak one hour traffic count of 200 vehicles is required on one of the Willow Drive intersection legs. The peak one hour traffic count was 175 vehicles which is 25 vehicles less than the required 200 vehicles. The consensus is that this intersection will meet the traffic signal warrant in the near future. The tentative plan was for Hennepin County to complete another traffic count this fall. The consensus of both the City of Orono .and Hennepin County staff is that the intersection geometries need to be improved to allow for the safe installation of a trafTic signal. Left turn lanes need to be constructed on County Road 6 to replace the existing bypass lanes, and the Willow Drive intersection approaches also need to be improved. The City of Orono has taken the lead role in completing a feasibility study to evaluate the potential for intersection improvements. The tentative plan is for the completion of an intersection safely improvements project with the provision for a future U-affic signal when one is warranted. The schedule, costs, and funding for this project have not been determined at this time. Cost Sharing for the Willow Drive/ County Road 6 Intersection Improvements Hennepin County has jurisdiction on the east and west legs of the Willow Drive/County Road 6 intersection, and the City of Orono has jurisdiction on the north and south intersection legs. It is obvious that Orono is responsible for the southern leg of the intersection, but the responsibility for the northern leg is questionable. The Orono City limits are located only 600 feet north of the intersection, and there are only three properties in Orono tha» access Willow Drive north of County Road 6.1 hese properties are not subdividable, so three is the maximum number of Orono homes that will ever access the northern leg of the intersection. The traffic on the northern leg of this intersection is virtually all from the City of Medina with substantial traffic being generated by the 80 homes in the urban density Medina Momingside development plus the new church on Willow Drive Our City staff recommendation is not favorable to the construction of 21 additional homes that will increase traffic at the Willow Drive/County Road 6 intersection without a traffic signal at this intersection. Our recommendation is also that the City of Medina be responsible for the intersection improvement costs on the northern leg of this intersection. Conclusion in Letters to the City of Medina Until the traffic safety concerns at the Willow Drive/County Road 6 intersection are resolved and the potential impacts of a higher density urban development directly adjacent to the 2-acre density development in Orono are reviewed and discussed by the Orono City Council, Orono City staff is not in favor of recommending modification of the Long Lake/Orono/Medina sanitary sewer agreement to include the proposed Keller Estates Development project. Page 3 of 4