04-25-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 25, 2011 • 7:00 o'clock p.m. (4. THREE RIVERS PARK DISTRICT - DAKOTA RAIL`TRAIL PARKING, Continued) bridge over Highway 7, the City of St. Bonifacious is looking to add some parking in that area. There is also the potential for a park- and -ride location in St. Bonifacious on Highway 7. Carlson indicated Three Rivers has looked at different areas in Orono to develop parking but the number of areas is limited. Orono Orchard Road is one area that is being looked at but there are sight line issues on that road: Carlson indicated they have also seen in some cases that people are utilizing the Crystal Bay Post Office parking lot. There is not a lot of available space in this area. There is a neighborhood area close by which will make it difficult to introduce additional parking. There is no additional parking from the Crystal Bay area to Minnetonka Beach and County Road 19, which is approximately four miles. Navarre has been an appealing location given its businesses. The challenge is how to connect the business district with the trail since there is some distance between the two areas. The Navarre Fire Station is also being considered for parking and there may be some opportunity to offer a connection to the trail at that location. Extra caution will need to be taken to ensure that trail use does not impede fire station use. Another location that has been talked about since day one is the Hennepin County public works facility located in Orono adjacent to Spring Park. People have typically been parking in this area. One of the challenges in this area is the terrain and providing parking that will not impede boat trailer parking. That • area may still be a possibility but there is currently a problem with the traffic flow through that area. Spring Park also has some denser population areas. Three Rivers has looked at a number of parking options but they are fairly limited in this area. The Spring Park City Hall parking lot offers some parking and options for expanding the number of stalls at that site are being considered. One of the disadvantages to the city hall is that the drivers have to be fairly familiar with Spring Park in order to find the city hall parking lot. Rahn commented he would look at which areas are most conducive and that parking near the business districts would be the most advantageous for everybody. Rahn asked whether a sidewalk would be sufficient from the Navarre business district to the trail. Carlson stated there are a lot of opportunities that can be looked at but that they would like to find the best solutions for each individual community. If parking is provided along County Road 19, Hennepin County would need to be brought in but they could look at adding some striping on the shoulders and perhaps a sidewalk along the side of the road. Carlson stated they would not want pedestrians and bicycle users utilizing the same surface and they would have to combine the striping and the sidewalk. The challenge would be to determine the flow of the traffic and Three Rivers would need Hennepin County's assistance on that aspect. Bremer noted the width of the road in that area is not ideal and that it would be a huge expense to widen the road. Bremer stated in her opinion County Road 19 is an unsafe location at the present time and that the police department has done a good job of reminding people that the speed limit in that area is 35 miles an hour. • Bremer indicated she did look at the topography along the trail this weekend and that it is almost impossible to continue a sidewalk due to the steep topography. Three Rivers would need to look at perhaps utilizing part of the roadway, which is not the best option given its narrowness. Bremer stated Page 3 of 25