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1 <br />MINUTES OF THE REGULAR ORONO CIT\’ COUNCIL <br />MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 14, 1996 <br />(Corridor Selection for Hwy 12 Upgrade - Continued) <br />Gayle Harris, Orono, asked how close the 2-lane alternative would be to the railroad bed <br />and how the road would be crossed from south to north O'Keefe said the distance <br />between the center lane of the proposed Hwy 12 and the center lane of the railroad is 90 ’ <br />He added that the Stubbs Bay Road access is proposed to be closed A bridge would be <br />built over the railroad and highway on Old Crystal Bay Road A bridge would be built on <br />Willow Drive and on Brown Road connecting south and north Willow and Brown Roads <br />The Watertown and May Street accesses would be closed When asked how the 2-lane <br />highway would be accessed, O'Keefe said it would not change The residents in the area <br />would use old Hvsy 12, with the difference being, it would be less congested witti 1/3 to <br />1/2 the traffic. <br />Clark Jenney, Orono. reported he has a problem with the 2-lane proposal He explained <br />that he was orijpnally informed that a 6-lane extension was required to handle the traffic <br />and then later told it was only 4-lanes required to handle the traffic, and questioned how <br />2 lanes can handle the traffic Jenney said he does not prefer 6 lanes or 4 lanes but also <br />does not want 2 lanes if it cannot handle the traffic O'Keefe said 6 lanes would be <br />necessary on the existing alignment to carry 4 lanes of traffic because of the need for <br />frontage roads to provide local access, but added that this 2-lane proposal will carry more <br />traffic The recent turndow n of a toll road on Hwy 212 was noted O'Keefe said he <br />would prefer 4 lanes but it would not be possible to fit 4 lanes into the proposed right-of- <br />way width <br />Jenney also referred to the reversible lane proposal noting Rep Gen Olson was informed <br />by Mn/DOT that she would take part in the esaluation process O'Keefe agreed that <br />there had been an oversight in her inclusion but she has been involved since tfiat time by <br />way of sharing the information available <br />Jenney referred to O'Keefe's comment that Ma^DOT cannot be involved jn increasing the <br />operating cost to the railroad and asked if this alternative improves the operating cost to <br />the railroad. Jenney said, as he understood it, there would be two tracks where one is <br />currently and the curve in the rail taken out O’Keefe said the ffatteneej curye would not <br />reduce the operating cost to the railroad but is being considered to avoi(| Grepn Glen <br />Park. Jenney asked if Mn/DOT was obligated to avoid the park and was l^Jd they were <br />not obligated but w ere obligated to mitigate any loss of park land W'h^p p^pd about <br />Holbrook Park, which will be affected, O’Keefe said it was not possit^le jp avP'd this area <br />due to a cemetarv' located to the north. <br />fm