6.1.SR 02-14-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item 6.1 . MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Pat Klaers, City AdmiJi1fm:"",i/ DATE: February 14, 2005 SUBJECT: Consider Proposal for Consulting Services for Highway 10 - The Tinklenberg Group Transportation has been identified as a high priority issue by the Elk River City Council. The transportation concerns include the highway system, county road system, arid local streets. As everyone knows, traffic on Highway 10 is very congested during peak periods ~nd solving this transportation problem is very challenging. A few years ago, the state authorized a number of Interregional Corridor (IRC) Management Plans to be completed. One IRC included Highway 169 in Elk River and another IRC included Highway 10 in Elk River. The long-range plan for improvements to Highway 169 in Elk River were found to be reasonable and acceptable by the City Council; however, the long-range plan for improvements to Highway 10 were not found to be acceptable or reasonable by the City Council. The IRC plan for Highway 10 through downtown Elk River called for the raising of the highway approximately 20 feet above its current location. The Highway 10 IRC proposal for Elk River needs to be re-evaluated and alternatives identified. Financially reasonable alternatives for the downtown stretch of Highway 10 are going to be difficult to identify given the location of the Highway in proximity to the railroad tracks and the downtown buildings. Compounding the challenges for Highway 10 is the lack of state funding for either evaluating other options or for funding improvements. In this regard, the city has almost no other alternative than to seek federal funds for planning and eventually improvements. Recently our neighboring communities of Anoka and Big Lake have received federal funding for Highway 10 planning purposes. Upon seeing Big Lake and Anoka obtain federal funding for planning purposes, the Elk River City Council decided to be proactive and on January 10, 2005, hired the Tinklenberg Group for Task 1 of the attached proposal. Task 1 relates to submitting a federal grant pre-application for funding for Highway 10 planning purposes.