5.1. HRSR 06-05-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force Minutes Apri15, 2005 Page 4 patrons, but that the "block is full by 8:00 a.m." Mr. Holme added that he wasn't sure what The Bank of Elk River was doing, but when the King Avenue lot becomes full, is the City going to require all employees to park north of Highway 10? That would be a "real hassle", Mr. Holme said. He said that one day he was watching a person he knew try to cross at the lights and the person could not make it across the intersection in the amount of time given to him and was caught in the middle. Mr. Holme stated that in the winter it becomes more difficult to cross the highway because of water and slush issues. Mr. McCoy said that he walks across that intersection almost every day and he's never had a problem with crossing at the light and always has enough time to get across. Ms. Mehelich said that in the next few months or so there was supposed to be a `countdown timer" installed at the intersection to let people know how much time they had to cross the intersection before the lights changed. Mr. Holme asked what happens to the signal when emergency vehicles went through the intersection or when a train came through? Mr. Holme also commented about how Main Street was safer than Jackson as there were fewer people crossing the intersection and fewer right turns, but that he had seen people running the lights at the intersection and that the Bank has requested the timers for a long time. He asked Ms. Mehelich if flashing lights that show that the light is going to change would be feasible at the intersection. Chief Beahen responded that these types of lights were very expensive to put in and that they cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars as they are linked to signal systems over a broader area". He said there had been a number of studies done and that drivers had to drive over 70 miles per hour in order to make the lights before they turned from green to red. Mr. Holme asked if this was a "painted crosswalk or main crosswalk with a blinking sign" and wondered if a painted crosswalk would help? He also asked about cameras that take pictures of people running lights. Chief Beahen said that these types of cameras are "not okay with the courts". Mr. Anderson asked Chief Beahen if when people were trying to cross Highway 10 and they were in the crosswalk when the two trains that come through town along 10 went by would the lights affect the train? Chief Beahen responded that the train would have the right of way and that it "overrides everything else". Ms. Raduenz asked the group if they had any other questions for Chief Beahen or Ms. Mehelich. Mr. Holme asked Chief Beahen when enforcement would begin on the King Avenue lot. Chief Beahen responded that after the lot was finished he would work with city officials on beginning to enforce parking areas. Mr. Anderson asked if fines were still $5? Chief Beahen responded that he thought parking fines were $10 and that if a driver had three or more unpaid tickets the vehicle was "towed and locked". Mr. Holme asked what the group had to do to make some parking spots two hours versus four hour parking areas. Ms. Raduenz answered by saying that the Task Force would submit a recommendation to the HRA and City Council about which spots in the area should be two hour and which should be four hour, and where they should be. She said this would be discussed at the May meeting of the group. (At this point in the meeting, Chief Beahen and Ms. Mehelich left the meeting). 4. Policyf Enforcement Examples from Other Local Communities Ms. Raduenz passed out information she had gathered about how other local communities and commercial districts addressed tight parking for employees and customers. The graph included information from Edina's 50~" and France area, Grand Avenue in St. Paul, the downtown area of Anoka and downtown Stillwater. Mr. McCoy asked if there was some formula that stipulated "for this amount of square footage you get this amount of parking