5.6. PCSR 06-08-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK • TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE: Highway ~0/~69 As the expert panel indicated early on in the master plan process, Highway ~o~~6g is the key for success of the i7ist Avenue FAST. The presence of the regional highway provides the traffic and visibility making retail, commercial, office and industrial development possible. The transition of Highway ~o~i6g to a freeway will be a significant trigger for development and redevelopment and integral to the roadway change will be the placement of the future interchange. Future Interchange The location of the future interchange has significant land use impacts. The master plan examined numerous scenarios for the interchange. Option A worked the best to balance the desires of the existing businesses for the interchange to be as far north as possible without compromising the existing single family neighborhood to the west. This location coupled with the direct routing of Twin Lakes Parkway to the interchange provide a direct route to the Northstar commuter station. Ultimately, the location of the interchange is closer to the built environment and will likely increase property values further into the built area and increase the chances of broader development areas benefiting from the interchange. Additional Considerations for Highway ~o/~6g In zoiz, MN DOT plans a resurfacing of Highway io(i69. As part of this project, it is understood that MN DOT will be closing all medians except for i7ist and 165th Avenue for safety reasons. Altering access points in this manner will likely initiate some turnover for uses along Highway ~o~i69 and strengthen the need for more internal roadway connectedness. In the future, the city should work with MN DOT to further investigate overpass options near ~7~st Avenue to better connect the land uses west of Highway io~i69 to the study area. Rail Line The master plan suggests providing an additional crossing of the BNSF rail line near - -~"~ ' ~~ " ~ 73rd Avenue. This additional crossing will allow for improved traffic flow for the commercial and industrial uses in the north of the study, rather than funneling all trafFic to Twin Lakes Parkway to cross the rail line. As the city lobbies to shift the rail line ~ ~ "1'i~' north near downtown, the city should investigate the feasibility of either an at-grade ~_a ~ „~,~,~ _~` or grade separated crossing in this location. While creating an additional crossing is ~*~" ~ - ~ . i ~'~ ~ challen m it is still worthwhile as something to strive for to create better and more ~~Y__ __ n intensive development. An additional rail crossing should be considered at ~73rdAvenue The opportunity for a rail spur off of a major freight rail corridor could be significant for industrial uses in the FAST. The master plan suggests a parallel spur line to serve