Minutes

1. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Harald Eriksen.

Members Present: Craig Anglin, Harald Eriksen, Charles Grawe, Neal Heuer

Members Absent: Dick Asleson, Linda Dolan, Arthur Zimmerman

Consultants Present: Glen Van Wormer

Others Present: Marty Adams, Ann Arens, Jerry Baack, Tim Dodds, Terry Forrest, Kathy Koshiol, Jerry McGrath, Marge McGrath, Matt Mumne, Michele Mumne, Steve Olson, Doug Schlieman, Jan Schlieman, JoAnn Shook, Denise Sjostrom, David Slotten, Rebecca Wagner, Roger Wagner, Judy Yung

2. Approval of Agenda

There were no changes to the agenda.

MOTION: Mr. Anglin moved, second by Mr. Heuer, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

3. Approval of November 12March 13, 2003 Minutes

MOTION: Mr. Heuer moved, second by Mr. Grawe, to approve the minutes of November 12, 2003. Motion passed unanimously.

4. Audience Items

There were no audience items.

5. Request for Installation of "No Parking" Signs on Upper 145th Street

Mr. Heuer said residents along Upper 145th Street requested the installation of "No Parking" signs along Upper 145th Street, south of Apple Valley High School. Mr. Heuer noted that similar requests have come before the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee due to students parking in the neighborhoods and not in the High School parking lot. He said students continue to park in the neighborhoods, but keep moving further away from the High School as closer streets are signed "No Parking".

Mr. Heuer said he worked with the School during the summer to narrow the width of the stalls. He then planned for analysis of the lot and Hayes Road and a future meeting with the neighborhood.

Mr. Heuer said the analysis determined that removing the landscape parking islands and shortening the length of the individual parking stalls could increase overall parking capacity by about 104 stalls. Mr. Heuer said the School is evaluating the costs for these improvements. The cost to remove the island would be about $13,000. The cost to restripe the stalls would be about $4,500. The cost to relocate up to six light poles that might not work with the new parking configuration would be about $2,000 per pole. The School is scheduled to restripe the lot again in the summer of 2006 and the improvements could be done at that time.

Mr. Heuer noted that the student population at the High School should peak in the 2004 - 2005 school year and decrease by about 300 students after that time. Mr. Heuer said he is also evaluating removal of the parking restrictions currently on the west side of Hayes Road south of 145th Street. He said he expects that with the improvements and the declining student population, the parking problem on Upper 145th Street should subside.

Mr. Heuer said the students did park on Upper 145th Street earlier in the year. However, the Principal asked that students not park on that street during a student assembly and the following day there was a drop in the number of students parked on the street.

6. Continue Discussion of Traffic Concerns on Pennock Avenue and 138th Street

Mr. Van Wormer provided an update on the analysis of traffic on Pennock Avenue between 140th Street and 138th Street and the traffic on 138th Street between Pennock Avenue and Cedar Avenue.

Mr. Van Wormer noted that Dakota County has not confirmed that it will close the access from 138th onto Cedar, but that staff believes it is quite likely. He said the City conducted traffic counts on Pennock near 140th. He said approximately 20 percent of the traffic was going to and coming from the east. He said approximately 80 percent of the traffic was going to and coming from the west. Mr. Van Wormer said that license plates were tracked during a sample morning period. Over 70 percent of the vehicles were registered to Apple Valley residents. Mr. Van Wormer also noted that in past license plate studies, as many as ten percent of the plates were not associated with a current address, so it is very possible that many of the out of town plates were actually Apple Valley residents who have not updated their vehicle registrations.

Mr. Van Wormer presented his recommendations for 138th Street. Recommended improvements included creating a street narrowing between Pennock Avenue and Cedar Avenue and installing medians at both the intersections with Pennock Avenue to the north and south. The medians would have six inch high curbs. Mr. Van Wormer further recommended that the installed improvements be done on a temporary basis and that further monitoring for effectiveness be conducted. He noted that he has not yet analyzed street signage.

Mr. Van Wormer presented his recommendations for Pennock Avenue between 138th Street and 140th Street. He noted that this section of roadway is more difficult due to the grades and sharp curves. He said the road was designed for maximum speeds of 25 miles per hour and thus vehicles traveling at legal speeds between 25 and 30 miles per hour are traveling too fast for the design of the road. Mr. Van Wormer said he did evaluate closing the north end of Pennock Avenue as requested by some residents. He said closure would create large problems for Fire Department access, especially if the Cedar Avenue access to 138th Street is closed in the future. He said he also evaluated speed humps as requested by some residents and received feedback from ALF Ambulance that it would cause significant problems for their vehicles and feedback from the Apple Valley Fire Department that speed humps would be very hard on Fire equipment. Recommended improvements included painting edge and center lines, requesting MNDOT study the appropriate speed limit and consider lowering the maximum legal speed to 25 miles per hour, and implementing saturation speed enforcement by the Police Department. Mr. Van Wormer further recommended that the City monitor the speeds now and with the revised speed limit if approved. He also recommended that if the speed limit is changed, that the new signage be over-marked so that it attracts drivers' attention.

Mr. Van Wormer took questions and comments from members of the audience. He was asked if drivers would swerve into yards to avoid the medians on 138th Street. He replied that he did not believe drivers would more likely swerve one way or another to avoid an obstacle. He was asked if rumble strips would be appropriate for Pennock Avenue. He replied that he did not oppose them, but noted that they are very noisy and would likely cause a significant noise disturbance for adjoining houses. He was asked if Pennock Avenue could be made into a one-way street. He replied that the direction of traffic would need to be north bound and would cause significant traffic displacement onto Guild Avenue. He also noted that studies show that one-way streets tend to increase traffic speeds. He was asked if stop signs could be installed mid-block on Pennock Avenue. He replied that studies show that inappropriately placed stop signs are often ignored, causing an additional problem of traffic sign violations. Mr. Van Wormer also noted that there is no guarantee that MNDOT will lower the speed limit after the review. Mr. Anglin was asked if photo technology would be used for enforcement. Mr. Anglin replied that the State Legislature has not authorized the use of such equipment.

Mr. Van Wormer addressed the issue of timing of implementation of the recommendations. He said the proposed striping on Pennock Avenue and the potential change in the speed limit could occur around the same time. Mr. Heuer added that striping would not be done until spring. Mr. Van Wormer also noted that the process for MNDOT to review the speed limits is about three months. He would compile information, prepare a formal request for approval by the City Council, and submit the information to MNDOT so that a speed study could be done. A resident noted that two existing street signs were knocked down along 138th Street. Mr. Van Wormer was asked when the medians would be removed and when speed monitoring would be conducted. He replied that there is no timeline to remove the temporary medians if they are installed and monitoring would be done to overlap with both the school year and school vacation times. Mr. Heuer said the median installation would be included in the overlay project which is bid in April and, if approved, the work would likely be done in June. Mr. Van Wormer said the resolution for the Council to request the MNDOT speed study would likely be presented to the Council in February.

MOTION: Mr. Grawe moved, second by Mr. Heuer, to recommend to the City Council the implementation of Mr. Van Wormer's recommendations, specifically that the City create a temporary street narrowing between Pennock Avenue and Cedar Avenue on 138th Street and install temporary medians at both the intersections with Pennock Avenue to the north and south; and on Pennock Avenue to paint edge and center lines, request MNDOT study the appropriate speed limit and consider lowering the maximum legal speed to 25 miles per hour, and implement saturation speed enforcement. Mr. Grawe said the motion also includes the recommended monitoring and studying as proposed by Mr. Van Wormer. Motion passed unanimously.

7. Traffic Concerns on Diamond Path between Pilot Knob Road and McAndrews Road

Mr. Van Wormer said several residents made a presentation to the Committee at the last meeting and proposed closing a portion of Diamond Path between McAndrews Road and Pilot Knob Road.

Mr. Van Wormer said he studied traffic volumes recorded on Diamond Path between May of 1997 and October of 2003. He noted that traffic volumes have not increased very much over that time and that the majority of the increase was between 1997 and 1999. Total volumes at the intersection with McAndrews Road were 3,500 vehicle trips per day. Mr. Van Wormer said that analysis suggests that traffic from outside of the surrounding neighborhood accounts for between 25 and 30 percent of the traffic volume.

Mr. Van Wormer said that the study indicated that closure of the road would cause a longer trip for neighborhood residents trying to access other parts of the City, resulting in a substantial loss of time. He also noted significant increases in response times for emergency vehicles to respond to calls in the neighborhood.

Mr. Heuer noted that Dakota County may consider closing the median on McAndrews Road, limiting traffic travel from and to Diamond Path. Closing the road would have significantly greater impacts if the County closes the median in the future.

Mr. Heuer was asked why traffic from the neighborhoods surrounding Diamond Path could not be diverted onto other small neighborhood streets. Mr. Heuer said Diamond Path was designed as a collector roadway to carry heavier volumes of traffic and the other roads were not.

Mr. Van Wormer said that while closing the road might reduce some cut-through traffic, the traffic volumes would also be impacted as the residents would be forced to make all of their trips in one direction (either out to McAndrews Road or Pilot Knob Road) as opposed to using both directions at this time. He also noted that residents along Diamond Path will experience changes in traffic volume if the median is closed on McAndrews, preventing a turn to the west.

Mr. Van Wormer said he would continue to study the issue and bring back alternative concepts for the next meeting. Mr. Grawe mentioned that Mr. Asleson had requested that the Committee move the March meeting back by one week so that he could attend. The group agreed to consider alternate dates for the March meeting.

8. Traffic Concerns Communicated to the City

A) Police
Mr. Anglin said there were no new concerns.

B) Public Works
Mr. Heuer did not present any new concerns.

C) Other Concerns Communicated to the City
There were no other concerns.

9. Update on Palomino Drive Reconstruction Open House

Mr. Van Wormer said he completed the summary of the resident concerns provided to the City. Most of the concerns related to vehicle speeds. He noted that some residents like the rural feel of the road, while others would like it to be more urban. He said he is recommending a mix of rural and urban design. The next meeting is scheduled for January 27th. He said he hopes to have four teams of staff members to hear residents' concerns on the project.

10. Traffic Safety Educational Efforts

The group adjourned without discussing the educational efforts as the February meeting agenda is devoted to traffic education. Mr. Grawe said that Ms. Dolan would like questions for the high school students to work on so that they can provide feedback by the February meeting date.

11. Adjourn

MOTION: Mr. Anglin moved, second by Mr. Grawe, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.