B. TH41 River Crossing Discuss CITYOF
7700 ~arkel ~o¢~va~d
PO Box 147
Chanhassen MN 55317
Phone: 9522271100
Fax 952 227 1110
Phone: 952 2271180
Fax: 952.227 1190
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUB J:
Todd Gerhardt, City Manager
Paul Oehme, City Engineer/Dir. of Public Works
May 5, 2004
TH 41 Over the Minnesota River
Scoping Document/Draft Scoping Decision Document
PW067E2
Engineering
Phone: 952.2271160
Fax: 9522271170
Finance
Phone: 9522271140
Fax: 952 2271110
Park & Recreation
Pho/'e: 9522271120
Fax~ 9522271110
Recreation Center
2310 Coulter Boulevard
Phone: 952227 1400
Fax: 9522271404
Planning a
Natural Resources
Phone; 9522271130
Fax~ 952.2271110
Staff has reviewed the Scoping Document/Draft Scoping Decision Document
(SD/DSDD) for the TH 41 Minnesota River Crossing to evaluate the impacts
and/or benefits the City of Chanhassen could receive from the project. The
Minnesota Department of Transportation has allocated a 30-day comment period
for thc SD/DSDD. Staff will be drafting a response letter with the City's
comments and concerns. Staff has requested the City Council be informed of
SD/DSDD and to insure the comment letter reflects Councils feelings.
The SD/DSDD document provides a discussion of:
The purpose of and need for the project
Alternative alignments and potential impacts to a no build scenario
Identifies potential, economic environmental impacts and discussion
regarding to what extent each issue will need to be addressed in the Tier I
EIS and how the issue will likely be addressed in the Tier II process
Public Works
1591 Park Road
Pl~one: 952 2271300
Fax: 952.2271310
Senior Center
Pr~or'~e: 9522271125
Fax: 952 227.1110
Web Sile
ww'~',,, ci chanhassen mnus
The purpose of this project is to identify if an alternate need for a river crossing
will be needed in the future. Currently, TH41, TH101, THI69. CSAH9/45 and
35W serve as the river crossing for Scott County and areas south of the County.
TH 41, CSAH 9/45 and TH101 crossings are currently below the 100-year flood
elevation for the Minnesota River. However, recent improvements to these
bridges have reduced the susceptibility to flooding. TH 41 and TH 101 river
crossings are two-lane section of roadway with 18,500 and 21,400 ADT
respectfully, making these some of the highest traffic volume two-lane facilities in
the state. When the Minnesota River floods, these roadways close for an average
of 10 days. Over the last 10 years, these roadways have been closed 3 times. It is
estimated that for every day these crossings are closed it costs the traveling public
$260,000 per day in time delays, extra miles traveled or $2.6 million dollars per
flood event. Also, TH 41 and TH 101 crossings go through the downtown
districts of City of Chaska and City of Shakopee which causes significant
congestion and poor Level of Service (LOS). Level of service traffic operations
analysis identifies how well a roadway can handle existing and future traffic
volume.
· ~ I; ;aJ t parks t,, (!r(a', i;,!a,:e tc 'i,;c '/~'urk and p'.ay
The City ol Chanhassen A growing community with clean lakes quality schools a ci~arming downtow[; t?,r vinq businesses '~.,indinq hals and ' ', '
Todd Gerhardt
May 5, 2004
Page 2
The objective of this process is to complete a Tier I Environmental Impact
Statement (ELS) that will evaluate in more detail a few alternative alignments.
The Tier I ElS will be prepared to identify and evaluate the social, economic and
environmental issues associated with alternative corridor locations, as the basis
for identifying a preferred alignment corridor that can be preserved for future use.
While the construction project may not occur for 20 or more years, the project
area is rapidly developing and future development will likely encroach on
potential corridor locations, resulting in greater potential for social and economic
impacts at the time the project is funded if an alignment location is not protected
in the near future.
A Tier II ElS process will be initiated in the future, as the project moves forward
for implementation. The Tier II process will focus on prepared alignment design
alternative, an updated assessment of environmental impacts, and identification of
mitigation.
The SD/DSDD evaluated a western, central and eastern corridor. Each corridor
had several sub alternative alignments that were briefly discussed. The attached
scoping build alternative figure shows the approximate alignment of each
alternative. A brief review of each alternative and sub-alternative was given
along with the benefits and disadvantages to each alternative. Four alternatives
were recommended for evaluation in the Tier I DEIS.
Staff has reviewed the four alignments that are proposed to be advanced to the
Tier I DEIS and has some concerns with the eastern most alignments. A portion
of this alignment could potentially be built within the City of Chanhassen and
through the natural areas along the Minnesota River corridor. The City's
Comprehensive Plan expressed the need for a new regional river crossing as well
as the need to improve the existing TH 41 facility; however the comprehensive
plan also specifically called for the protection of Minnesota River Corridor
natural environment. The easterly alignment (E2) appears to cross through the
westerly portion of the Seminary Fen. Even if the new TH41 crossing were to
bridge this area storm water, salt spray, potential changes in ground water flow
and debris could significantly alter the native communities in this area.
The easterly alignments (E2) could potentially require acquiring right-of-way
along Stoughton Avenue, Bluff Creek Drive, West Farm Road, and Heidi Lane.
Stoughton Avenue is currently guided industrial. The City of Chaska has already
acquired approximately 115 acres of land along this corridor. Land acquired by
the City of Chaska was based on a draft EIS study started in 1974 but never
completed due to lack of funding.
Todd Gerhardt
May 5, 2004
Page 3
The SD included an alignment (E3) which was not recommended to be evaluated
in the Tier 1 EIS. This alignment connects TH 169 near CSAH 69 to Bluff Creek
Drive at TH212. This alignment significantly impacted Bluff Creek Drive and the
properties adjacent to it and also impacted the ecological areas along the
Minnesota River Corridor. Staff feels since alternative E3 was eliminated based
on impacts to the ecological areas and the residents along the Bluff Creek Drive,
alternative E2 should also be eliminated from consideration in the Tier I EIS
based on the same criteria.
Staff also feels improvements to THI01 from old 212 to Lyman Blvd. should
have been discussed, or recommended for further study, in this document as a
potential interim measure to address some the traffic problems currently being
experienced at the TH 41 river crossing. Currently, the TH 101 river crossing
takes more traffic then TH 41 crossing and is anticipated to take more traffic then
TH 41 in 2040 under the current roadway system. If the TH 101 was upgraded
from old TH 212 to New 212, some of the added traffic congestions could be
diverted away from the TH 41 river crossing via TH 101 to new TH212. TH 41
has recently been improved north of old TH 212. The bridges at TH 101, TH 169
and TH 41 have recently been improved to minimize susceptibility to flooding.
By upgrading TH 101 north of old TH 212, traffic will have another way to get to
a principal arterial.
The SD/DSDD discussed the future growth and development west in Scott
County and Carver County as the driving force for a new river crossing. The
SD/DSDD determined the need for a north-south principal arterial connection that
crosses the Minnesota River above the 100-year flood plain based on this future
growth. The preliminary traffic study shows that the easterly alternatives would
have the most traffic benefits although the most westerly alternatives showed
most of the same benefit. Therefore, staff feels since the growth is taking place in
the west and south, right-of-way corridors are still somewhat available, and
environmental impacts are substantially less then the easterly alignment
alternatives MnDOT show concentrate their resources and efforts for a westerly
alternative principal arterial river crossing.
g:\cng\paul\mcmos\mclno tg th41 over thc river.doc
Chaska Owned Property
Alignments to be Evaluated in the DEIS
TH 41 Over the Minnesota River
750 1,500 3 000 4,500 6,OO0 7,50O
Feet
May 4, 2004
G:tEngIJoleenlEng Projects~PaullChaskaParcels