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V. EAST-WEST TRANSPORTATION NEEDS <br />The physical features and topography of the City of Orono have made it difficult to provide for <br />east-west movement within the City. At the present time, east-west movement in the City is <br />accommodated along CSAH 15 from Spring Park to Highway 12; along CSAH 51 from CSAH <br />19 to CSAH 51; and along CSAH 84 - Fox Street from CSAH 19 to the CSAH l5/Orono <br />Orchard Road area. <br />East-west travel in the north part of the City, that area above Tanager Lake, Maxwell Bay, and <br />Stubbs Bay have available the Fox Street - CSAH 84 Corridor; the Watertown Road facility; or <br />travel north to arrive at the Highway 12 area. The construction of the Highway 12 super-two <br />facility should help to provide for east-west Highway 12 travels that is an improvement over the <br />present day Highway 12 roadway. Access to this new roadway will be available at CSAH 6 on <br />the west and from Wayzata Boulevard on the east. <br />CSAH 15, from CSAH 51 to Highway 12, presently accommodates approximately 20,000 <br />vehicles on an average annual daily basis. During the summer months, these daily volumes <br />exceed 23,000 and 24,000 along CSAH 15 in the study area. The future year 2020 average daily <br />volumes have been projected, by Hennepin County, to be 27,000 in the Orono Orchard Road <br />area. This volume could exceed 30,000 vehicles daily during the summer months. <br />The increase in volumes along CSAH 15 will create additional accident potential and congestion <br />for those using that roadway. It is possible to divert some of the CSAH 15 traffic to the Fox <br />Street corridor by creating a smoother, more direct connection to CSAH 15 in the Orono Orchard <br />Road area. This concept is shown on Figure 9 and involves providing a Fox Street/Orono <br />Orchard Road connection on a curve rather than the present day 90 degree tee intersection. Fox <br />Street, west of this connection, would require some improvement to create a roadway with <br />adequate two-way width. The key to drawing some of the trips from CSAH 15 to the Fox Street <br />Corridor is the provision of a traffic signal at the intersection of CSAH 15 with Orono Orchard <br />Road. This will allow traffic from the central and north parts of Orono to use the CSAH 84/Fox <br />Street corridor to access CSAH 15 to then proceed northerly to Highway 12. These <br />improvements could be expected to reduce the traffic demand on that section of CSAH 15 south <br />of Orono Orchard Road by approximately 1,500-2,000 vehicles per day. <br />This improvement, in conjunction with the signalization of CSAH 15 at CSAH 51, will help to <br />reduce the volumes on CSAH 15, thus helping to reduce the number of accident occurrences. <br />VI. VVOODHILL ROAD AREA IMPROVEMENTS <br />The access to/from properties on the northerly side of CSAH 15, east of Orono Orchard Road is <br />available at Russell Avenue and W'oodhill Road, which is a private roadway. The Russell <br />Avenue connection serves a residential area that is also served by Orono Orchard Road. The <br />Woodhill Road access serves some residential homes and the Woodhill Golf Course. During <br />peak traffic hours access to/from these two roadways can become quite hazardous in that gaps in <br />traffic along CSAH 15 make it difficult to exit these roadways. <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />f i <br />• i <br />• I <br />j <br />•I <br />• I <br />m4 <br />• I <br />» «