Minutes 08-04-03Richfield Transportation Committee
Minutes
August 4, 2003
Committee members in attendance: Steve Lindgren (Co-chair), Barb Kritzman (Co-chair), Bob Shotwell, Bob Elliott, Todd Nollenberger, Don Anderson, John Bjostad, Bill Kilian, Scott Pawelko,
and Suzanne Sandahl.
Others in attendance: Gertrude Ulrich, Bill and Lois Andersen, Ken Meter, Elaine Bergquist, Ray and Judy Goebel, Morris N. Nilsen, Larry Wozniczka. Richfield staff: James Olson, Tom
Foley and Mike Eastling. MnDOT staff: Alana Getty and Chris Roy.
Steve Lindgren served as Chair for the meeting.
The agenda was adopted after a third topic under agenda item 3 was added to discuss factors suggested by Humboldt/ Girard residents for evaluating 76th St. ramp alternatives.
The minutes of the June 16 and July 7 meetings were accepted after Bill Kilian corrected the minutes for July 7 to read that few people use I-494 eastbound to go north on I-35W. The
minutes will show that committee members are listed separately from city staff and the general public in attendance.
Review of 1997 Comprehensive Plan and Visions 2020 Policies- The Committee had requested a review of policies from these two documents to aid committee members in selecting factors to
evaluate ramp alternatives. Bob Shotwell thought the policies needed to be revised based on changed conditions, e.g. Best Buy and events of 9/11/2001. Ken Meter submitted a paper the
Humboldt/Girard Neighbors presented to MnDOT on July 30, 2001. He suggested the positions listed could be used to develop factors to evaluate ramp alternatives. Examples were loss of
homes and loss of neighborhood cohesion.
Review of MnDOT Systems Plan and the ABC Strategic Plan- Alana Getty of MnDOT reviewed the ten policies listed in the statewide systems plan and the three strategies for improving the
regional highway network- Advantages for transit, removing Bottlenecks and improving interregional Corridors (ABC).
Review of Past City Positions on I-35W and I-494- Tom Foley explained the history of City positions on both I-35W and I-494. The two main issues were mainline configuration and access/right
of way impacts.
Matrix for 76th Street Ramp- Alana Getty presented additional factors discussed at the previous meeting for possible inclusion in the table listing criteria
for the Committee to consider when evaluating alternatives for the 76th Street ramp.
The committee then discussed how to assign relative importance of factors, recognizing some are more important than others are. The city staff will provide assistance in ways to weight
the factors. MnDOT staff was asked to add another column on the matrix for Level of Importance. The factors also need to be filled in by the next meeting so the committee can begin
to compare alternatives.
Traffic Counts and Possible Access Changes in Richfield- Tom Foley reviewed traffic volumes on the freeways and city streets in and around Richfield. He also presented a map displaying
possible changes in access to the freeway network. This map will be useful in deciding on access at Lyndale Avenue Bridge and the 76th Street ramp. Ken Meter asked to see a map that
encompassed a larger area than just Richfield so that people could see what is happening to access in neighboring communities (Edina, Bloomington and Minneapolis.)
New Alternatives for 76th St. Ramp- Mike Eastling reviewed a proposal by Bob Shotwell for placing Girard Avenue underneath 76th Street. Mike showed that a major sanitary sewer interceptor
would conflict with the elevation of the proposed Girard Avenue. Bob Shotwell asked Mike to explain why I-35W does not conflict with the sanitary sewer interceptor pipe now. Mike will
follow up on this. He also pointed out that Girard Avenue would be ten feet below the grade of Humboldt Avenue north of 76th Street.
Larry Wozniczka proposed an alternative that would bring the entrance ramp to Emerson Avenue and south to the I-494 ramp to go north on I-35W. Chris Roy explained that this was one of
nine original alternatives that was prepared in collaboration with Humboldt/Girard residents. He discussed some of the technical aspects of this option.
MnDOT Freeway Access Spacing Guidelines- Alana Getty reviewed MnDOT’s guidelines for access spacing of one mile in urban areas. She assumed Richfield to be a new suburb where interchanges
could be located to fit MnDOT’s guidelines. Based on this assumption, only four access points would be allowed in Richfield. The City currently has twelve. If interchanges with only
access in one direction are treated as one-half of a full access interchange, the city has nine and one-half full access interchanges.
Agenda for the Next Meeting- The committee wanted to concentrate on evaluating the alternatives for the 76th Street ramp at the next meeting on September 4, 2003. Therefore, discussion
of the 66th Street and Portland Avenue intersection and other topics should be postponed until the 76th Street ramp issue is resolved.
The next Committee meeting will be on Thursday, September 4, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. This was done to avoid a conflict with Labor Day.
Meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m.