4.6. SR 08-18-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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County plan has no east-west corridor by Don Heinzman Editor A proposed Sherburne County transportation plan has some good news in it for western Elk River residents. The plan, first ever for the county, does not propose an o,ast-west corridor cutting .:ross Elk River along Co.unty Road 33. Instead, it. recommends a new road stretching from Highway 169 to County Road 1. And it isn't recommending that until eight to 10 years from now, after the gravel mining operations are over. Two gravel companies and the city of Elk River own the land for the proposed new road that would parallel County Road 33. The consultants, SRF, who drew up the plan are suggest- ing that gravel mining opera- tions could cease in Elk River sooner than the 20 years expected. No one should get too eXcited yet, because the plan is in draft stage. It could be revised or all, a part or none of it could be passed by the county board, which got a good first look at the document last week. A special presentation for the public is planned. After considering the feedback, the plan could be revised. After listening to the presen- tation, County Commissioner Arne Engstrom of Elk River' said he was pleased because most of the roads in the coun- ty appear to be adequate for the next 20 years.. If all of the plan for the next 20 years were adopted, there would be a deficit in funds needed of $15,757,000. This does not' take into account fed- eral aid. Consultants intend some roads be changed to state aid" roads, fleeing up some local funds for road building. , Engstrom naturally was pleased with the recommen- · dation not to have an east- west corridor in Elk River. The report has a surprise for the city of Zimmerman. It'rec- ommends that County State Aid Highway 4 be the east- west arterial route in the cen- ter of the county. The report says designating County Road 4 as a minor arterial means the county would have to allow fewer accesses to that road. Traffic volumes on that road now ar~ approaching 7,000 vehicles per day The volumes Roads continued to page 4 Roads Continued from page 1 are projected to increase to 13,400 vehicles per day by the year 2020. The consultants also recom- mend a good north-south. frontage road along Highway 169, with at least one good east-west connection to Highway 169 north and south of the city. The report also recommends a potential 'realignment of CSAH 4 to the south, of Zimmerman. Another bottleneck is in Big Lake, concerning County Road 73 which goes north of Highway 10 along the west side of Big Lake. The report recommends that a long'term plan be developed that would connect County Road 81 and the 200th Street intersection at a single inter- section with Highway 10. One arterial realignment concept would realign Highway 25' north of Monticello to follow the 200th Street alignment .to Highway 10. It is further recommended that the concept 'be given to realigning CSAH 5 from north of Big Lake to connect with Highway 25 at this intersec-- tion with Highway 10 Following are some other recommendations: · CSAH 5 is recommended for an upgrade from major col- lector to minor arterial. · Main Street in downtown Elk River is recommended for upgrade from ..local 'street to collector. · CSAH 8, southeast of TH 24 is recommended 'to be upgrad- ed from a minor to a major col- lector. Development of an east-west collector route between Elk River and Big Lake is needed. Use of existing 209th and 211th streets is recommended. County Road 33 would provide the connection to the east. The future east-west collec- tor route would entail change in tho, following cmmtv route,~ · County Road 43 between Highway 10 and County Road 83 is recommended to change from a minor collector to a local street. · County Road 83 is recom- mended to'be changed from a minor collector to a local street. · County Road 79 is recom- mended to be changed, from a minor collector to a local street. · County Road 60 is recom- mended for change from a minor collector to major collec- tor. · CSAH 16 between Highway 10 and through Highway 25 is r~cnmrnendod for chnn~o ~m a minor to a major collector. · A north-south collector- arterial route to the east of Highway 169 is recommended. This route, beginning at CSAH 29 to the north and ter- minating at Highway 190 to 'the south would use existing and new alignments. · A north-south collector route to the west of Highway 169 is recommended. This 'route, starting, at Highway 169 to the north and terminat- ing at CSAH I would use existing and new alignments.