8.2. SR 04-06-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Eli ks. .= F1k River cmvelMmmgnmrim River Roadways classified as minor arterials are intended to provide links between two or more communities. Access to these facilities is also limited, but not to the extent that it is on a principal arterial. Like principal arterials, mobility or moving traffic is a high-priority. Generally other minor arterials and collector roadways connect to minor arterials. Minor arterials are usually owned and operated by MnDOT and the counties, although a few cities have jurisdiction over minor arterial routes. Collector(both major and minor) roadways provide linkages to larger developments and community amenities. They generally do not link communities to one another. Collector roadways generally favor access to the system over mobility, but they try to balance to two competing needs. Collector roadways are generally lower speed than the principal or minor arterial routes. Collector roadways are usually owned and operated by cities, although counties have some of these facilities. As can be seen in Figure 8, the roadway network in the Elk River Comprehensive Plan has a limited number of existing and proposed continuous north-south and east-west roadways classified as collector roadways or above. This is a result of previous development patterns and limited opportunities to remedy those patterns without significant disruptions to existing neighborhoods and developments. The lack of east-west and north-south connectivity within the community and the study area will result in traffic being concentrated on US 169, 221st Avenue and CSAH 33 as well as Proctor Road (and its extension) and the eastern backage road to US 169. Information from the US 169 EA/EAW, as well as the City's updated Comprehensive Plan, was the starting point for developing roadway alternative scenarios for this study. It should be noted that coordination between the City, Sherburne County and MnDOT will be required to implement the transportation improvements identified in this study as well as those in the US 169 EA/EAW and the City's Comprehensive Plan. Existing Traffic Volumes and Capacity in Study Area Traffic volumes and existing intersection traffic control for roadways within the vicinity of the Mining Area study area are shown in Figure 9.Table 1 lists existing roadway volumes by design type. Existing traffic volumes on the primary routes in the study area are generally below their capacity. Roadways below capacity (have less traffic than they were designed to accommodate)generally do not experience significant congestion and generally operate at an acceptable Level of Service (LOS). Table 2 shows general planning-level capacities for different roadway designs. The thresholds provide a general understanding of when a roadway is likely to experience congestion. It should be noted that a number of factors can influence the capacity of a roadway, including: speed, the amount of access, the directional split of traffic, peak hour percent, saturation flow rates, and other factors that are not reflected in the planning-level thresholds. 18