8.1 SR 07-06-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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614 North First Street •.State OO • Kftneapolliis, Kftnesota 554OIl DATE: June 11, 2020 TO: Elk River City Council FROM: Community Housing Development Corporation ("CHDC") RE: Additional Considerations for Traffic Control and Right -of -Way Vacation at Twin Lakes Road and 1751n SITUATION CHDC understands the public works department does not support the proposed right-of-way (RoW) vacation and conveyance request because the area may be needed for a roundabout at the intersection. Effective traffic control remains important, and CHDC offers the following with the goal of finding a collective solution. BACKGROUND INFORMATION To fit into the local context, respond to neighbors' concerns and accomplish the site's land use goals in the Focused Area Study Plan, the building needs to extend into the corner. It is a key that unlocks value for residents and the city including: o Minimizing the building height to three stories. o Activating the streetscape along Twin Lakes Road and making it attractive. o Achieving 26 units per acre density o Offering site amenities and utilizing innovative stormwater practices while providing adequate off-street parking. It is difficult to know how much RoW would be needed for a roundabout because it has not been designed and would be tailored to the Twin Lakes Road and 175t" Avenue intersection. The public works director sent a conceptual layout of a roundabout from a different location, and CHDC's surveyor sited it in the middle of the 1751" & Twin Lakes Road intersection, which is attached for reference. ISSUES TO CONSIDER • Alternative traffic control measures such as stop signs or a stoplight and side street stop signs may be nearly as effective and could be a collective solution. They would also cost less than a roundabout. • Because the new building only extends into part of the corner, it is possible the city would not need that RoW for a roundabout as shown on the attached. It remains impossible to know for sure without an approved roundabout design. The city could site a roundabout further to the north from the center of the intersection, reducing the need for RoW in the requested southeastern corner. According to CHDC's surveyor and title company, the city owns the entire parcel to the north of the corner vacation request, up to the orange dashed line in the attached, which is approximately 150 feet to the north of the proposed RoW vacation line.