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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-01-18 Minutes 1 MINUTES OF THE Special Meeting of the Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, January 18, 2007 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Les Wanninger, Warren Plante, Marie Thorpe, Jean White, Marc Usem, Hilah Almog MEMBERS ABSENT: Steve Brown STAFF PRESENT: Wayne Houle, Sharon Allison West 70th Street Corridor Traffic Study Public Hearing Residents on West 70th Street Chair Wanninger called to the meeting to order. Wanninger said the sole purpose of the public hearing is for the ETC to listen to the residents. He said all comments received thus far are available for review at the libraries, the Senior Center, the Engineering Dept. and the City’s website. He said questions raised at the public hearings will be answered at a later time and posted at the locations previously mentioned for all to see. The study process will take approximately one year, said Wanninger. Wanninger described the study area as Hwy. 100 to France Avenue and Hwy. 62 to the Fred Richards Golf Course. He said after this first round of public hearings a Study Advisory Committee will begin meeting to review residents’ comments and data collected by the traffic consultants. The Study Advisors to the ETC will be made up of W. 70th residents (Earl Benson, Dave Hatzung and Peter Warner), City staff and Planning Commission members, City of Richfield’s staff and a Transportation Commission member, representatives from area businesses, CPC Church, the School District, Hennepin County, Mn/DOT, and SRF, the traffic consultants. Wanninger said some things are already known such as congestion certain of times of day, heavier traffic volume since 1984, speeding, crashes, cut-thru, etc. and others would be revealed tonight. He said the rumor surrounding a 4-lane highway is false and the only decision that has been made so far is to conduct the traffic study. The meeting was then turned over to the residents to speak as follows: Harold Babb, 4701 W. 70th Street  Do not need engineers to do traffic counts and traffic flows; already know traffic is heavy and difficult to get onto W. 70th;  Do not know traffic patterns and there must be at least 6 or 7;  Identify traffic patterns by doing physical counts and surveying of drivers; 2  Develop multiple solutions to traffic flow. Dan Giedd, 4208 W. 70th Street (letter read on his behalf) W. 70th Street Homeowners Association  Recognizes the commercial importance of the greater Southdale area to the city;  Recognizes the vital component of the network of streets and walkways that comprise the residential neighborhood;  Maintain residential integrity by removing State Aid classification;  Request to have active participation, not merely input into the process;  Make W. 70th a parkway which will balance the commercial and residential needs. Marge Andre, 4209 W. 70th Street  Overburdened street; similar classified B-minor streets carries lighter load as intended;  Safety: crossing road, speeding, not yielding to pedestrians, running traffic lights;  Design of street with few traffic lights and width makes it impossible not to speed;  Have asked the police dept. to use her driveway and have caught speeders;  Access – cannot make a left turn out of her driveway; forced to go right into neighborhood and back onto W. 70th. Jan Ferrell, 4704 W. 70th Street  Knew that there was traffic when they moved in, this hasn’t changed;  Not looking for improvements but is afraid of detriments;  Fear of 4-lane highway and if this is not the plan would like Mn/DOT to say so. Josh Sprague, 4720 W. 70th Street Chairman, W. 70th Street Greater Homeowners Association  Gathered 500 signatures to: o Make 70th into a parkway o Renamed Arneson Parkway o Blacktop road to reduce noise o No truck traffic o Slower speed o New pedestrian and bike access o Maintain current roadway width o Beautification of W. 70th  A concept drawing was presented showing a narrower landscaped roadway, with crosswalks, signage and bike lanes;  Stated that Mayor Hovland said renaming W. 70th Arneson Parkway would not be a problem; also met with Council Member Housh and will be meeting with other council members;  To implement parkway vision cannot have truck traffic on W. 70th;  W. 77th is already a commercial route;  State Aid funds can be reallocated according to political leaders; cannot prevent truck traffic with State Aid classification. Kristine Norton, 7007 Cornelia Drive  State Aid are the reasons why speed limit cannot be lowered to 25 mph, eliminate truck traffic and Mn/DOT requirement to rebuild roadway as 4-lanes;  Mn/DOT guidelines would be horrendous (4-lanes); 3  In favor of removing State Aid and assessing residents for improvements;  Supports parkway concept. Ronald Rich, 7008 West Shore Drive  Traffic has not increased in 20 years;  Southdale and industrial area has been developed for a longtime;  No change occurring; concerned that people think there is something worst going on and therefore something must be done; also concerned that if there is going to be a change, they do not know what it is;  Based on the issues, it is a either/or proposition: traffic calming, etc. to preserve the neighborhood (lower traffic volume) vs. getting more traffic through (to serve perceived development);  Concerned that decision is already made regarding solution;  Supports parkway concept;  Most of the neighbors would probably be supportive if they knew which way you’re leaning – higher vs. lower volume. Joellen Deaver, 7405 Oaklawn Avenue  Story about a driver that has slowed down since the signs went up in the neighborhood;  Cornelia School is out of control – stop signs ignored by both parents and school bus drivers;  Traffic education needed for immediate residents. JB Overstreet, 4813 Dunberry Street  Concerns regarding what the plan is; lack of plan makes the imagination go crazy;  Reference made to W. 70th being the Western Gateway – makes it sound big;  If there is a problem will the answer be to increase or decrease traffic;  Moved to Edina because of top rated schools and parks, both of which are on W. 70th;  Neighborhood would be split if roadway is widen;  Visit the website Save70th.org. Greg Maguson, 7001 Wooddale Ave  In 1987 it was easy and safe to Cornelia School;  Traffic has increased within the past 20 years, especially truck traffic;  Limit/reduce/eliminate truck traffic by offering alternate routes, this would be a big adjustment;  95% of drivers do not observe the crosswalk signs on W. 70th. Dave Carlson, 4713 Aspasia Circle  Participated in petition drive and there were two consistent concerns: speed – controlling speed particularly around Cornelia School when in session; and not widening the street;  Have heard some reassurances that there are no plans to widen the street;  Cities serious about safety are City of Golden Valley where speed limit is 15 mph during school hours; and Superior, WI with 25 mph on residential streets and 15 mph in school zones;  Safety alone is a strong reason for removing State Aid designation. Tom O’Connell, 7333 Oaklawn Avenue  State Aid limits creating a safer environment; 4  Supports bike routes;  Walks often with his five children – W. 70th is difficult to cross;  Encouraged ETC to consider parkway concept;  Do understand the need to move traffic in and out but look at adjoining streets to see impacts;  Design street to help enforce speed law. Ted Ciardelli, 4417 W. 70th Street  4-lanes would be catastrophic;  Need to make changes for the residents, not for the businesses; Joanne Bolduc, 7001 West Shore Drive  Ask that they look at dropping the state aid classification from W. 70th. Colby Wilkins, 4515 W. 70th Street  Do not think it’s us vs. Southdale;  Galleria is #1 mall of its kind in the US; if neighborhood deteriorates so will Galleria;  What is good for Southdale is also good for the neighborhood. Mary Martin, 4519 W. 70th Street  Have you considered band aid to help out with things such as speeding, in the meantime, during the 12-month timeframe? Wanninger reiterated that there is no plan at this time. He said the process is a year-long study that will include more informational meetings. He said suggested solutions were shared tonight as well as issues needing further clarification such as what latitude does the City Council have over State Aid roadway designation; conducting an origination/destination study which will be addressed by the Study Advisory Committee; and getting truck counts which should be available from data already collected. Meeting adjourned.