C. Update on Minnesota River Crossing and Flying Cloud Drive Imps.0 C
CITY OF MEMORANDUM
C l""'j"'" SE TO: Todd Gerhardt, City Manager
7700 Market Boulevard �-
PO Box 147 FROM: Paul Oehme, Dir. of Public Works /City Engineer
Chanhassen, MN 55317
DATE: September 24, 2012 o
Administration
Phone: 952.227.1100 SUBJ: Update on Minnesota River Crossing and Flying Cloud Drive (CSAH
Fax: 952.227.1110 16) Improvements - PW067E2
Building Inspections
DISCUSSION
Phone: 952.227.1180
Fax: 952.227.1190
On March 30 of this year, MnDot awarded over $20 million to make improvements
Engineering
to the TH 101 Minnesota River crossing. These funds were awarded by the
Phone: 952.227.1160
Transportation Program Investment Committee and were funded using Chapter 152
Fax: 952.227.1170
Bonds for flood mitigation. Funding for the river crossing was a competitive
Finance
solicitation process.
Phone: 952.227.1140
Fax: 952.227.1110
In early 2011, MnDOT initiated a study to evaluate the feasibility of reducing
flooding closures by making modifications to one or more of the three existing
Park & Recreation
Minnesota River crossings - TH 169, TH 101 and TH 41. The study was undertaken
Phone: 952.227.1120
in response to the disruption caused by the two flood closures in 2010 and the
Fax: 952.227.1110
prediction of a third major flood event in the spring of 2011. The frequency and
Recreation Center
duration of these floods raised concerns that if construction of the new TH 41 river
2310 Coulter Boulevard
crossing was over three decades away, then other options should be evaluated to
Phone: 952.227.1400
determine if any short-term, lower cost projects could be identified to reduce flood
Fax: 952.227.1404
impacts. The study developed three alternatives to consider for funding; one for each
of the three river crossings. The study concluded TH 101 River crossing showed the
Planning &
Natural Resources
greatest need for improvement and was shown to have the biggest transportation
Phone: 952.227.1130
benefit to the region if it was improved.
Fax: 952.227.1110
The current plan is to make the Minnesota River crossing a 4 -lane roadway. Along
Public Works
with the roadway improvements, a 10' wide pedestrian trail is also planned on the
7901 Park Place
west side of the roadway. Construction may start in late 2013 with an advanced
Phone: 952.227.1300
design schedule. Advancing the project will allow the contractor to drive piles and
Fax: 952.227.1310
set girders during the winter months while the river stage is low. MnDot has also
committed to reconstructing TH 101 north up to Flying Cloud Drive (CSAH 61). The
Senior Center
Phone: 952.227.1125
Minnesota River Crossing improvements are anticipated to take 12 months to
Fax: 952.227.1110
construct and a full roadway closure will be necessary. Improvements to TH 169
near the Minnesota River bridge are planned for the summer of 2013 to make
Web Site
accommodation to add a traveled lane in anticipation for more traffic on TH 169
www.ci.chanhassen.mn.us
because of the TH 101 Minnesota River Crossing project.
Along with the MnDot Minnesota River crossing project, Hennepin County and
Carver County are planning to make improvement to CSAH 61. Hennepin County is
Chanhassen is a Community for Life - Providing for Today and Planning for Tomorrow
Todd Gerhardt
Minnesota River Crossing & Flying
Cloud Drive (CSAH 16) Improvements
September 24, 2012
Page 2
preparing for the reconstruction of CSAH 61 between the county line and Charlson Road. This
section of CSAH 61, old Trunk Highway 212, was a turnback from the State of Minnesota in 2009.
The project is in the early stages of the project development process and construction is anticipated
to start summer of 2015. A small portion of CSAH 61 floods with the Minnesota River floods when
TH101 floods. The roadway will be reconstructed above the 100 -year Minnesota River flood stage
and is currently planned to be widened to a 3 -lane roadway section. A pedestrian trail is also
planned along the corridor. This is project is likely to require full road closure during the summer of
2015.
Carver County is planning to design and reconstruct the "WYE" area of TH 101 and CSAH 61 in
2014 in conjunction with the TH 101 Minnesota River crossing project. This section of CSAH 61
was also a turnback of TH 212 and will be mainly funded through the state turn back account funds.
CSAH 61 in this area is proposed to be built to a 4 -lane design. Agencies have been meeting over
the past several months to identify a plan to address safety, mobility and projected growth for the
area. MnDot and the County have been busy taking borings and cone penetrometer tests to
document the extent of the poor soils in the area. Generally, the soils in the area are very poor and
swamp deposits vary between 5 and 28 feet thick. For any improvement to be made in the area, soil
corrections will have to be made which will be the single biggest cost.
Several alignment alternatives of the "WYE" area have been analyzed from a traffic operations,
mobility and long -term regional benefit perspective. Based on this analysis, a few alternatives are
proposed to be advanced for more study. Below are the alternatives proposed to be reviewed in
greater detail.
Exhibits 1 & 2 show two alternatives for an at -grade intersection alignment. Each of these
alternatives show relatively the same traffic and mobility benefits. Each of these alternatives
has signalized intersections. Each of these alternatives would reduce the signals from four
signals to the two on CSAH 61 in the "WYE" area. However, a new signal is proposed to be
added at the Bluff Creek Drive intersection. The design of both alternatives would require
the western intersection at the landscape center business to be raised approximately 10' to
plan for improvements up the bluff. Each of these alignments would require a significant
amount of right -of -way to be purchased. Both of these alternatives would also lock in the
future alignments up the bluff. In general, both alternatives function relatively well for 2034
traffic projections.
An alternative for a single signalized intersect has been reviewed however traffic modeling
of this alternative showed the intersection would not handle future traffic demands.
2. Exhibit 3 shows a folded diamond interchange configuration of the intersection. This
alternative provides the greatest continuity for trips traveling on TH 101 but is the highest
cost. It is estimated an additional 5,000 trips per day would use TH 101 north of CSAH 61 if
the interchange is built over the at -grade alternatives shown in Exhibits 1 & 2. This
alternative could not be built in the same time frame as the Minnesota River crossing project
or the Hennepin County project because of lack of funding and the need for additional
environmental reviews. If this alternative is recommended to be built, a significant amount
g: \eng \public \pw067e2 hwy 41 eis & river crossing studies \bkgd 092412 update on 101 bridge and wye imp.doc
Todd Gerhardt
Minnesota River Crossing & Flying
Cloud Drive (CSAH 16) Improvements
September 24, 2012
Page 3
of infrastructure built by MnDot in 2014 may need to be "thrown away" or removed to make
the connection. This alternative may offer the greatest local future access benefits.
3. Exhibit 4, which shows an alternative for a large single round -about in the "WYE" is also
proposed to be studied further. This alternative seems to offer some of the same traffic
circulation benefits as the interchange option especially going north up the bluff. This
alternative would also eliminate the need for signals in the "WYE" area. The alternative
could also be staged for a future leg north up the bluff. The area for the round -about would
need to be raised approximately 15' to plan for the future north leg up the bluff.
Attached is a high -level summary matrix of the alternative analysis completed to date. ,
MnDot is planning to complete a value engineering study for all the alternatives starting in
November. The goal is to have a preferred alternative alignment selected by December.
Costs for the alternatives are a little unknown at this time however since the geotechnical
information has just recently been made available. A MnDot representative is planning to review
costs and funding at the work session meeting.
SCHEDULE
Below is a tentative schedule for the projects.
Value Engineering Review
Selection of Preferred Alternative for "WYE" area
MnDot bid for girder bridge fabrication
MnDot bid for Minnesota River Crossing project
Start Minnesota River Crossing construction
Carver County bids out for CSAH 61 project
MnDot and Carver County project complete
Hennepin County project construction start
November, 2012
December, 2012
June, 2013
Fall, 2013
Fall /Winter, 2013
Spring, 2014
Fall, 2014
Summer, 2015
Attachments: Project Area Exhibit
Exhibits 1 -4
Alternative Analysis Matrix
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