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Home My WebLink AboutTH 13 Access Management Study 1 O � PRip� � � U t�y 4646 Dakota Street SE '�INxESO'��' Prior Lake, MN 55372 I CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING DATE: MAY 28, 2013 PREPARED BY: LARRY POPPLER, CITY ENGINEER / INSPECTIONS DIRECTOR PRESENTER: LARRY POPPLER TOPIC: TRUNK HIGHWAY 13 ACCESS MANAGEMENT STUDY DISCUSSION: I ntroduction Progress has been made on the Trunk Highway 13 Access Management Study. Access scenarios have been developed and public comments have been received by the City. This work session will review the latest information to define the next steps. Hi� � Prior Lake's 2030 Vision and Strategic Plan recently updated by the City Council prioritizes economic development as one of the city's most important goals. In fact in 2012 the City Council made community and economic development one of its top three goals. This is particularly important in the downtown which is relatively small and is divided by a county road which will eventually carry 27,000 vehicles per day. This means that traffic must flow smoothly into the downtown via north and southbound TH13, east and westbound County Road 21 and local roadways like Arcadia, Colorado, Pleasant and Duluth. In 2005 the City and County finalized a year and half long study which selected the alignment of County State Aid Highway 21 through Prior Lake from County State Aid Highway 82 to Revere Way. This study identified several improvements necessary to maintain adequate access to the Prior Lake downtown. Based on intersection spacing, downtown access, right of way impact, TH 13 / CR 21 operation, and community involvement, a concept was chosen. This option keeps County Road 21 at its current location and included Main Avenue having right in/right out access only so the intersection does not fail as the result of added traffic over time. A full - signalized access would be provided at Arcadia Avenue. Additionally a 3 /4 access would be provided at Pleasant Street from TH 13. This configuration, approved by the City Council in 2005, has commonly been called the "Baseline Option." Since south downtown is guided in the City Comprehensive plan as "Town Center," the alignment for County Road 21 contemplated a"developer driven" connection of Duluth to the full access intersection at Arcadia. On January 3, 2012 the City Council held a work session to discuss County Road 21 in the downtown area. At the work session, the City Council reviewed several long term alternatives for this area and directed staff to initiate a study of our south downtown to lead a process to determine the ideal street connections. The Council felt that in the interest of long term planning and to increase the involvement of downtown businesses and residents, that a study be undertaken now. The recommendations from this ' study are to provide the framework for future downtown development by defining proper street configurations for access and egress purposes so existing and new residents and businesses can plan with some degree of certainty. On April 2, 2012, the City Council approved a professional services contract with Bolton & Menk for the completion of the downtown south traffic study and on May 7, 2012 the Council provided direction on the study goals as follows. 1) Assemble the findings and recommendations from the previously completed projects, plans, and studies into one plan for the Downtown South Area. 2) Develop a plan for a future street network in the Downtown South Area that is consistent with the CH 21 Plan, provides connectivity and facilities for multiple modes (i.e. pedestrians, and bicyclists) between Downtown and other destinations, provides access to Downtown South businesses, and provides access for traffic between Duluth Street and the intersection of CH 21 and Arcadia Street. 3) Develop a street network for the Downtown South Area that reduces right-of-way acquisition and considers the City's options for implementation. On October 8, 2012, the City Council held a work session to go over the options. Progress had been made as study options were reduced from 13 to 5. One of these options is the Baseline option. This includes the proposed changes at the intersections of Hwy 13/CR 21, Hwy 13/Duluth Avenue, Hwy 13/Pleasant Street, and CR 21/Main Avenue, as consistent with previous studies, but does not include any plans within the Downtown South area. Two additional options (9B & 9C) were added after comments were received from the Citizens and Business Group. Each of the seven alternatives are shown in the downtown south study report. An open house was held on November 27, 2012 and was well attended. Comments from the public were taken are included within the Downtown South report appendix. On December 12, 2012 the City Council discussed the Downtown South Study. At the time, the Technical Evaluation Panel was recommending option 9C. The City Council felt additional information was needed before a decision could be made on the alignment and directed that staff identify what information remained to be collected based upon Council comments and how such information should be assembled. Understanding that several of the downtown south options changed access to TH 13, further study of TH 13 accesses was needed. On May 28, 2013 the City Council commissioned Bolton & Menk to perform an access management study for Trunk Highway 13. The access study has three objectives: 2 1. Identify and evaluate access management scenarios showing access locations between CSAH 42 and CR 81. 2. Solicit public and agency input in developing the plan to ultimately gain support / buy in for a preferred corridor access vision from the public, elected officials, MnDOT and Scott County. �� 3. Provide a plan to guide future access vision along TH 13 to be used in the City's Downtown planning work, the Comprehensive Plan, and the Capital Improvements Program. Discussion Topics The access study is currently underway. A technical advisory committee (TAC), consisting of staff from MnDOT, Scott County, Savage and Prior Lake, has met several times to discuss access options. Crashes and conflict points were evaluated in development of the access options. Preliminary mobility analysis has also been performed. The corridor was divided into four segments. The TAC has identified an initial range of access options for each segment. Attached to this report are the access scenarios. These will be presented at the work session. These access options were shared with the public at an open house held on August 15, 2013. The open house was well attended as over 100 persons signed in on the sign-in sheets. Public comments as well as MnDOT comments are attached to the report. The City Council will receive a general summary of the comments at the work session. The TAC met on August 19, to discuss the access options and public comments. The TAC agreed the access options for segments 1 and 4 were appropriate. The TAC also agreed on option 3B for the segment 3 area. The TAC did not make a recommendation for the segment 2 area. The five alternatives for segment 2 were discussed at the TAC meeting. • Options 2A and 2B - Adding a signal at Franklin Trail appears unlikel due to intersection spacing, signal warrants, and TH 13 mobility. Additional study of Franklin Trail would be needed to determine if it would meet signal warrants. Even if it met warrants, MnDOT has concerns with intersection spacing along TH 13 as it , would reduce mobility through the corridor. Preliminary analysis shows delay of traffic through the corridor as a result of the added signal on TH 13. • Options 2C and 2D — Swapping the Duluth Signal for the Franklin Trail signal seems more likelv. Additional study would be needed to determine if Franklin Trail would warrant a signal if Duluth Avenue would be converted to a three-quarter access. Intersection spacing would be offset due to the conversion of the Duluth Avenue signal. The removal of the Duluth signal could be perceived negatively by the existing businesses near this intersection. In reviewing traffic movements, the conversion of the Duluth intersection would restrict cross movement at Duluth and left turn movements from Duluth back onto TH 13. Vehicles traveling to these businesses would not be restricted by this conversion. However, vehicles exiting these businesses may require a modified route to achieve access back to TH 13. In addition to this change, pedestrian crossing at Duluth would not be allowed with the three-quarter access. • Option 2E — Approval by MnDOT of this option is most likelv. The TAC for the downtown south study had recommended this option. 3 This previous study included representation from MnDOT and Scott County. • Another option was discussed by the TAC at the latest meeting. This option involved modifying Option 2E to include a northbound ; left turn lane at the Franklin Trail intersection. This northbound left ' turn would allow westbound traffic to use Arcadia signal and avoid the TH 13 and CR 21 intersection. Tonight the City Council will review the access options and public input. The goal is to discuss the access options and receive direction from the City Council on the next steps of the study. Several of these options may require increasing the scope of the Bolton & Menk contract. I 4