04-22-1996 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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VII. JUSTIFICATION FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE THREE-COMPONENT PROPOSAL Additional studies are necessary to determine whether the three-component proposal alternative can be effective in providing sufficient operational capacity for the area. These studies are justified given the following inherent advantages of the three-component TSM alternative. Providing local communities with long-term, safe access to/from TH 12 Minimizing property acquisition in the study area Promoting the use of existing transportation infrastructure Balancing TH 12 local access and regional significance issues Minimizing the cost of the TH 12 project Minimizing environmental issues These issues are discussed under the group headings of traffic system management project costs, community issues, and environmental issues. A. Traffic System Management Until the traffic forecasts are re-run with the corrected input vanables, the direct traffic impacts of each alternative remain unknown. However, justification for the three-component alternative to be included with the reforecasted traffic analysis revolves around its potential for meeting both the mobility needs of the local residents and the capacity needs of the region. Mn/DOTs preliminary traffic forecasts predict only a 30% increase in daily traffic on TH 12 through Long Lake between the years 1994 and 2015 Since Long Lake has few undeveloped parcels of land remaining, a majority of the traffic increase can be assumed to be from communities outside Long Lake. This assumption is confirmed by examining the local and county roadways that feed TH 12. Under the no-build alternative, between the years 1994 and 2015, daily traffic is expected to increase by 45% on County Road 6, by 95% on County Road 110, and by 690% on Watertown Road in Orono. TABLE 1 - TH 12 ROADWAY CORRIDOR FORECASTED TRAFFIC VOLUMES Roadway Percent Increase in Traffic 1995-2015 Trunk Highway 12 30% County Road 6 45% County Road 110 95% Watertown Road 690% The three-component TSM alternative addresses the increasing local development surrounding TH 12 by providing locally generated traffic with increased access to the existing freeway portion of TH 12. and the two nearby interstate highways (1-394 and 1-494). Regional demand is proposed to be met through a combination of reducing demand on TH 12 and minor capacity upgrades along the three corridors. By relocating a portion of local traffic to Watertown Road and CR 6. in combination with minor upgrading of intersection capacity and access along TH 12. regional traffic may operate with an adequate level-of-service. PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF w \longtake\report.doc