1993-12-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Council Meeting Minutes December 14, 1993 Page 6 Council Business. continued City Engineer Les Proper presented the Silver Lake Road Right-of-way Plan. Ramsey County will handle the right-of-way acquisition process which will be funded by County State Aid funds. Final construction plans will be approved in January 1995 and construction will begin later that year. At the July Council meeting, Council requested the road segment between 5th St. and Co. Rd. E be a 66 ft. wide section with 14 ft. center median and turn lanes at the intersections. The right-of-way plans show a 70 ft. width to enable median tree plantings and provision for curbing to be parallel between 5th St and Co. Rd. E. It became obvious during design that there would only be 8 ft. available for planting if the road area were 66 ft. The intent was to make this area of roadway straight and make the median wide enough for desired landscaping. The right-of-way in this section is not an issue and Council action is not required. A preliminary review by the State Aid office found that medians were installed on all road sections except the section from Windsor Lane South to the existing median north of Silver Lane. In this section, painted stripes are used to divide the north and south bound center lanes. For consistency and safety, a narrow concrete median should be used to separate the lanes similar to that section between 5th and 7th St. Four homes south of Windsor Lane South would be affected by not being able to make left turns into and out of their properties. The entire project includes a center median to prevent left turning across oncoming traffic, except for the short section north of Silver Lane to the Windsor Lane South signal. Presently, the plan includes a painted island. This item was not aired at the public meetings and staff feels no action should be taken at this time, but Council direction is needed. Options for this section include: 1) leave as painted island; 2) if a center median is needed, staff would work with affected residents; or 3) wait and see if the Federal Government will require a center median. Benke asked if the final review shows that a center median would be required. Proper confirmed the study included a painted island at this location. Myrtle Yrista, 331 Silver Lake Road, owns one of the four affected homes. She asked if a turn lane could be installed to provide a u-turn for south bound on Silver Lake Road. Proper said it appears there might be room to install a left turn area. Y rista favors a yellow painted island and asked if a left turn signal could be added at that access. Wayne Leonard, Ramsey County, said the design memorandum includes a painted median, but no protected left turn. There will be a through lane on both sides and 4 to 6 ft. of paint. A driver will have no expectation that someone could turn in front of them, and this appears to be somewhat of a danger. Once the right-of-way is acquired, final detail plans will be submitted and approved in about 9 months. After the road is operational and design concerns are apparent, the County will review the situations and take required action. Council Business I Silver Lake Road Reconstruction Right- of-Way Plan Report 93-336 I I