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HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.R. 42 Corridor Study RESPONSE OF THE CITY OF PRIOR LAKE TO THE COUNTY ROAD 42 CORRIDOR STUDY The City of Prior Lake, through its staff and advisory committees, has developed this response to the Draft Report of the County Road 42 Corridor Study. There are several significant issues raised in the Corridor Study which will have an impact on the City if implemented. These include the following: . The County is supposed to develop a model land use and access control ordinance which is to be adopted and enforced by the City. . A Corridor Commission is proposed to be created by the Legislature which would coordinate development in the Corridor, plan for road improvements and generate funding within the Corridor. . A Joint Powers body is to be created that would hear and approve variances from the access spacing standards. . Some existing intersections are proposed to be modified to reduce full access in order to reflect the spacing standards recommended in the Study. . The goal of maintaining an average speed of 40 mph in the Corridor is achieved by increasing the average speed at each end ofthe Corridor and means that through much of Prior Lake, an average speed of 50 mph would be necessary to meet that goal. The study makes recommendations in 7 areas. The following is the City's response to each of these areas. Land Use It should be clear that the City is not opposed to the idea of access spacing standards per se. The City's' concern in this issue is the potential loss of autonomy in dealing with land use and transportation issues in what will be the most important section of the City in terms of future development. The County can and does enforce access spacing standards on its' roads now and the City fails to see why it should be made responsible for this activity in the future. The additional levels of government contemplated by the Study are troublesome as there are four separate bodies proposed in the study. The most problematic to the City is the Corridor Commission to be established by the Legislature. The suggested powers to be delegated to this body are sweeping in nature and suggest an inordinate level of control over local land use and development activities. At this point, the City is not prepared to accept study recommendations which appear to penalize the City for poor development decisions which were made 20 years ago in other jurisdictions . The City recognizes its responsibilities in the context of the Metropolitan system and will continue to deal responsibly with development in the community. We are 16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER not prepared to sacrifice our economic future in an attempt to remedy problems which may be too late to correct. We recognize the need for access control and reasonable access spacing and intend to address this in our Comprehensive Plan. We support the idea of a southerly cross-Metro corridor to deal with future traffic needs south of the river and support the idea of the South Metro Corridor Coalition to serve as a lobbying group to bring attention to transportation needs to the South Metro area. We also support the idea of a formal variance process, provided' the City has a role in developing and implementing such a process. Functional Class The City supports the recommendations made in this area with the footnote that, without the South Metro Coalition, the recommendation to begin planning efforts on the new southerly alignment will probably never occur. Access Spacing As noted, the City is not opposed to the idea of access spacing, but is unsure why the Counties need to develop ordinances for local adoption and implementation. If the Counties adopt such ordinances, the City believes it should participate in the development of the procedure for granting variances to the standards. Railroad Crossings The City supports these recommendations Transit The City supports the transit recommendations. Anything that can be done to enhance transit opportunities should be encouraged. Pedestrians/Bicycles While the City is concerned about the cost of "strategically placed grade separation crossings of the Corridor" and who will pay for them, we are in general support of these recommendations as evidenced by trail construction along County Road 42 from Highway 13 to County Road 21. Roadway Improvements The City supports all of the recommendations proposed for roadway improvements.