10-14-1996 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 14, 1996 • (Corridor Selection for Hwy 12 Upgrade - Continued) In reviewing the Stubbs Bay to Old Crystal Bay Road portion, Mn/DOT plans to acquire 50' of additional right -of -way. The 50' additional would be south of the current railroad right -of -way. There would be an additional 18 -1/2' depression of the railroad at Old Crystal Bay Road. New Highway 12 will be 12 -13' lower than the railroad is currently today. An additional 30' of right -of -way will be acquired east of Old Crystal Bay Road. At Willow Drive, the proposed railroad grade will be lowered 15' with Highway 12 +/- 5' above the proposed railroad grade. The result is the proposed highway will be 10' below the current railroad grade. An additional 30 -50' of right -of -way will be acquired east of Willow Drive through the City of Long Lake. The highway will be forced to swing away from the railroad alignment at Watertown Road to avoid Green Glen Park located by the Linda Wood neighborhood. This southern movement of 150 -200' is the largest change anywhere on the proposed Alternative 6 plan. O'Keefe said the grades of the highway have some flexibility where it ties into the railroad grade to the east across the wetlands from the 7th green of Woodhill Golf Course to the Fleming Addition in Long Lake by the old sewer plant. He noted the maps were keyed to show the proposed right -of -way acquisition. The meeting was then opened to questions. • Wharton Sinkler, an Orono resident of French Lake Road, noted an earlier project had inadequate funding and did not meet the metro plan. He asked if this proposal meets the metro plan criteria. O'Keefe said the funding identified for the years 2001 -2003 is sufficient to build what is being proposed. He said the Met Council is most supportive of the plan. Mary Bashore, 2565 Woodhaven Drive, Orono, asked why the 3 -lane proposal would not work. O'Keefe said the reasons were 1) safety, 2) access, and 3)cost. He noted the two projects are similar as to section types, but the accident rate is 2 -1/2 to 10 times that of Alternative 6 equating to 70 accidents per year expectation. Of those 70 accidents, one third are generally injury accidents, which equates to 23 or 24 injury accidents per year. The access issue involved the road connections being only to higher designed roads as in the trunk highway rather than to driveways, local streets, residences or businesses. O'Keefe noted that accidents increase in direct correlation to the number of accesses on a road. The cost of the 3 -lane proposal is lower at $30 million. The 2 -lane being proposed is projected at $40 million. O'Keefe said the $30 million does not go far enough compared to what will be gotten for the larger amount. He also noted the design criteria as it relates to average peak hour speed should be 45 mph for a principle arterial road. The 3 -lane would be assigned 35 mph with an observed speed up to 25 mph, which would not allow it to work as designed. •