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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10B - CR 21/Fish Point Rd 16200 Eagle Creek Avenue S,E. Prior Lake, MN 55372-1714 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: AGENDA #: PREPARED BY: AGENDA ITEM: NOVEMBER 21, 2005 10B STEVE ALBRECHT, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A REPORT REGARDING THE INTERSECTIONS OF CR 21/FISH POINT ROAD AND CR 21/ADELMANN STREET DISCUSSION: Introduction At the October 3rd City Council Meeting staff was directed to evaluate potential options for improving the safety of the CR 21/Fish Point Road and CR 21 /Adelmann Street intersections prior to the scheduled CR 21 Project in 2007. History In the spring of 2005 the Prior Lake City Council formally reviewed and commented on the CR 21 corridor study. This study included installation of a traffic signal and turn-lanes at Fish Point Road and turn-lanes and reconfiguration of the intersection at Adelmann Street. Identified by the City Council for consideration was advancement of a project to upgrade the CR 21/Fish Point Road intersection. A petition was received from the residents of the Deerfield area in the Spring of 2005 requesting this project. City staff revised the CIP to include a project in 2007 to upgrade the Fish Point Road intersection. Scott County and the City are in the process of developing plans for the improvement of the CR 21/Fish Point Road intersection. Based on available funding and design schedules the improvements will not begin until June of 2007. These improvements include the signalization and addition of turn lanes to the intersection. The current project includes the Franklin Trail and Fish Point Road intersections. The Adelmann Street intersection and portion of roadway east to Revere Way is currently being evaluated for federal funding and inclusion in the 2007 project. The estimated cost for these improvements is $3,010,000. The City's portion of the roadway costs is currently estimated to be $400,000. The County has secured $1,820,000 in federal funds for 2007 which may reduce the City's estimated roadway costs. Current Circumstances The City Council has directed staff to consider options for interim safety improvements. As a first step staff analyzed available accident data for the intersection. When the frequency of accidents for a given intersection begins to consistently exceed 1.6 accidents per 1,000,000 trips in a year for more than 2 years the County will consider safety improvements. This equates to approximately 6.5 accidents/year at the Fish Point Road and Adelmann Street intersections based on current traffic volumes. In 2004 Fish Point Road and Adelman Street intersections experienced 1.76 and 1.52 accidents per million trips. However in preceding years these intersections have been consistently 1:\COUNCIL\AGNRPTS\2005\112105 Fish Point Rd intersectiol1.doCr . I k www.cltyorpnorae.com Phone 952.447.4230 / Fax 952.447,4245 ~~~".,.-....~"",._-,........--,"--,."_....-_"",,, ._~--~-_."~-""" , below the 1.6 level and both appear to be on pace for a rate of 0.75 for 2005. An analysis of available crash data indicates that the majority of accidents at Fish Point Road and Adelmann Street occur when westbound cars are waiting to turn left or eastbound cars are turning right (and left at Adelmann Street) and are rear-ended. ISSUES: Based on the Council's direction Staff has contacted the County and evaluated the following alternatives for expediting improvements to these intersections for consideration by the Council : 1) Install 3-wav Stop at Fish Point Road The County feels that a 3-way stop is not appropriate at this location. This will decrease the level of service for CR 21 substantially and will create additional safety concerns. Initially this could be dangerous as drivers become used to the stop signs particularly those headed westbound. If stop signs could be installed, the estimated total costs (without and with flashers respectively) is $10,000 to $50,000. The County has indicated that for a variety of reasons they would not support stop signs even if flashers are included. This improvement could be funded from contingency. From a safety perspective this does not resolve the primary accident concern at Adelmann Street. 2) Install Temporary Sianal at Fish Point Road The County has indicated they would consider a temporary signal at this location. This would need to be completed at the City's sole cost for an estimated $175,000-$225,000. The earliest this could be completed is the summer of 2006. The City currently has no funding for this improvement in the CIP for 2006. This alternative would require the City to divert funds from the CR 82 project which is scheduled to begin in spring of 2006. Any changes to the CR 82 funding would delay that project. Additionally because the balance of the intersection improvements including turn lanes and medians would still need to be made in 2007 the amount of the temporary signal that can be reused would be limited. From a safety perspective this does not resolve the primary accident concern at this intersection or at Adelmann Street. Rear-end accidents will still be a problem if a signal is installed without turn lanes. 3) Install Traffic Sianal & Turn-lanes To complete this option the City would need to advance a substantial portion of the 2007 CR 21 project currently being designed. The estimated cost of this work is $1,500,000. The earliest this work could begin is late summer of 2006 and would most likely not be complete until summer of 2007. The design and ROW acquisition process could delay this project even further. Because the 2007 project includes $1,820,000 in Federal funding any portion of the project budget spent in 2006 would be lost and not be reimbursed to the City through this I\COUNC1L\AGNRPTS\2005\ 112105 Fish Point Rd intersection.Uoc ., I funding as it needs to be encumbered starting in 2007. The City has no funding source identified in 2006 for this project at this time. This advancement would require the City to divert funds from the CR 82 project which is scheduled to begin in spring of 2006. Any changes to the CR 82 funding would delay that project. Current safety issues at the intersection would be adequately addressed by this option. 4) Install Advisory Speed Limit SiQns City staff discussed placement of advisory reduced speed limit signs. Currently the speed limit is 50 mph however staff inquired regarding whether advisory signs could be placed at 40 or 45 mph. This means that while the enforceable speed limit remains at present levels (50 mph) lower limits are shown on the signs. This means that the police department can only issue warnings unless the actual speed limits are exceeded. The County feels this option creates several issues. a) The speed is not enforceable under state law. b) More dangerous conditions could develop as the speed range on the road would increase. Additionally as some drivers become aware that the advisory signs are not enforceable we could have drivers operating under confusing conditions thereby increasing the safety risk. The cost of these signs would be less than $1000. Installation of these signs can be funded from the Street Department budget. County staff have indicated they would not support this option. 5) Reauest an Updated Speed Study The City could request that MNDOT complete an updated speed study in this area. We could provide them with additional accident and traffic volume data in hopes that they will weigh that information with the speed study. MNDOT utilizes the 85th percentile rule. This is the value indicating the speed at which most (85%) drivers are traveling under. Experience has shown that a posted speed limit near this value is the maximum safe and reasonable speed. Because the road design has not changed since the last speed study was done on CR 21 it is unlikely that MNDOT will elect to complete a new study until the road is reconstructed in 2007. Even if a speed study were completed, it is conceivable that speed limits in the corridor particularly the 40 mph zone west of Franklin could be increased due to new data. While the cost is minimal for this option, it is not viable since MNDOT will not perform the study until the road design is changed. 6) Increase Speed Limit Enforcement City staff has discussed an approach for increased enforcement of the roadway. The City would utilize our public works message board when available to visually warn people that the 50 mph speed limit will be strictly enforced. Additionally the City would increase speed limit IiCOUNCll IAGNRPTS\2005\ 1121 05 Fish Point Rd intersection.coc enforcement of this segment of roadway by paying officers overtime to facilitate saturation patrols on this segment of roadway. The additional costs of enforcement are estimated to be a minimum of $12,000/year. This amount is based on a minimum of one day per week of saturation patrols and could increase if additional days are added. The increased enforcement could be funded from contingency. The actual impact on accident reduction is unknown since the major cause of accidents is not speed related but rather driver inattention resulting in rear-end accidents. However the increased enforcement and warning signs should increase driver attention in the corridor which should have an impact on accidents in the corridor. The County staff has indicated they would not support alternatives 1 and 4 above. The City does not have a funding source to complete alternatives 2 and 3 above. Additionally advancing these options will only reduce the project timeline by approximately 1 year under the best case scenario and increases the City's overall project costs. The County has also indicated they may not support options 2 and 3 if they impact the CR 82 construction schedule. Alternative 5 could exacerbate the situation by increasing corridor speeds. Based on available funding and the current project being developed by the City and County for construction in 2007 City staff recommends alternative 6. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Adopt one of the options above supported by the County. 2. Adopt alternative 6, increased speed limit enforcement recognizing the permanent improvement is programmed in the 2007 Capital Improvement Program. RECOMMENDED MOTION: Alternative 6. Reviewed by: ,L I (2, doc