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CR 98-142 Consider Traffic Study Stop Sign Request- 7th Ave N/3rd St NAugust 27, 1998 Proposed Action. Overview. Supporting Information. • Traffic Study Steven J. Stadler Public Works Director Council Report 98 -142 Consider Traffic Study Stop Sign Request - 7 Avenue North /3 Street North Staff recommends adoption of the following motion: Move that Council disapprove the installation of additional stop signs on 7 Avenue North at 3rd Street North. A letter and petition requesting installation of stop signs at 7 Avenue North at 3 Street North were presented to Council at the August 4 Council meeting. City Council directed staff to undertake a traffic study per Legislative policy 8A Requests for Traffic Controls. Staff has now completed the study and will present it for Council consideration. Primary Issues to Consider. Traffic study results Central Hopkins neighborhood character, appearance and traffic Recommendations Analysis of Issues Traffic study results The traffic study and recommendations are attached. Central Hopkins neighborhood character, appearance, and traffic Central Hopkins is a standard grid pattern older neighborhood typically seen in Tong- established second ring suburbs. Traffic control is limited to periodic stop signs as mentioned in the traffic study. Staff has had relatively few complaints regarding speeding and few requests for additional traffic control. However, Council may want to consider exploring other methods of traffic calming in which entire neighborhood areas, streets and pedestrian ways are considered. Nowadays, the demand for traffic calming is increasing and many cities are responding with techniques that transform neighborhood appearance and traffic impact, both vehicular and pedestrian. If desired, staff could investigate the cost of consultant assistance in studying ways to improve our central Hopkins areas in regards to traffic calming and improved pedestrian function. Recommendations. Council may choose one of the following options: 1) Approve action as recommended by staff, i.e., disapprove_ stop sign request. 2) Same as 1) but direct staff to investigate costs of consultant assistance to explore alternatives for central Hopkins traffic calming and improved pedestrian use. 3) Request additional information from staff and table action until received. 4) Approve installation of additional stop signs. Staff recommends option 1 or 2. TRAFFIC STUDY — STOP SIGN REQUEST 7 Avenue North/3 Street North Intersection Background The city received a letter and a petition requesting installation of stop signs on 7th Avenue North at 3 Street North. The letter stated that the main concern is the safety of the neighborhood children. There are 18 children under the age of 10 near this intersection. Other concerns mentioned include general pedestrian traffic, 'especially traffic associated with Alice Smith Elementary school, Chapel View Nursing Home, Gethsemane Lutheran Church and downtown businesses. Finally, traffic speed is mentioned as an issue. The petition was signed by owners /residents from 15 properties along 7 Avenue North between 2 Street North and Minnetonka Mills Road. The signers represent 68% of all 7th Avenue properties within 300' of the intersection (see attached map). Currently, only 3rd Street North traffic is stop - controlled at this intersection. This request would change traffic control to a 4-way stop. The letter and petition were presented to City Council at the August 4 Council meeting. City Council directed staff to undertake a traffic study per city Legislative policy 8A — Requests for Traffic Controls. Current Conditions of intersection area Visibility: This is a very open intersection, there are no sight obstructions. The existing stop sign for eastbound 3 Street is slightly obstructed by tree branches /Leaves. There is a street Tight at the intersection. Street widths: 7 Avenue North is 38' wide, 3 Street North is 32' wide Parking: Parking is permitted on both sides of 7 Avenue and 3rd Street. Sidewalks: There is sidewalk with 5-6' boulevard along both sides of 7th Avenue and along the north side of 3 Street west of the intersection. There are no marked crosswalks. Traffic volumes: Vehicle traffic counts were taken on August 12 -14. The average daily traffic (ADT) on 7 Avenue North between 2 and 3rd Streets was 258 vehicles. The highest hour count was 28. The average daily traffic on 3 Street North between 7th and 8 Avenues was 492 with the highest hour count being 55. For purposes, the ADT on" 12 Avenue North between 1 s and 2 Streets North is 2,300 and 8 Avenue North between Main Street and 1 Street North is 1,150. Accident history: Hopkins Police Dept records indicate no accidents at this intersection in the past seven years. Vehicle speed: Staff did not obtain vehicle speed data for this study. Pedestrian traffic: Staff did not obtain pedestrian traffic data for this study. Justification for additional stop signs Obviously, additional stop signs should be approved only when clearly warranted. Justification should include combinations of speed, visibility and /or accident problems or unusually high pedestrian traffic. The decision for additional traffic control should be based on expected Tong -term conditions or problems. Once a sign goes in it is often very difficult or even dangerous to remove it when it is no longer warranted. There are no visibility obstructions and no accident history at this intersection. Speed studies which have been completed in central Hopkins areas have shown average speeds and 85% speeds well within the 30 mph speed limit. Staff believes that these results would also hold for 7 Avenue traffic and that the vast majority of vehicles travelling on 7 Avenue are within the speed limit. Regarding pedestrian traffic, the largest percentage should be those using the existing sidewalks along 7 Avenue. These pedestrians would have the benefit of the existing stop sign traffic control when crossing 3r Street North, the more heavily traveled street. Additional considerations The traffic control within central Hopkins consists of alternating stop sign control between the streets and avenues. The number of stop signs encountered when travelling north -south or east -west between 5 Avenue and 12t Avenue on 2 or 3 Streets North or the avenues are the same. Additional stop signs installed on one street or avenue has the potential to increase traffic volume on the other routes as they would then have fewer stop signs. • There are very real costs, besides the relatively nominal cost of stop sign installation and maintenance. When applying the results of many traffic studies to the particulars of this intersection, the estimated vearlv impacts of these two additional stop signs are: 1,000 gallons of additional fuel consumed, 350 hours of lost time, 2100 pounds of additional carbon monoxide emissions, and 300 pounds of additional hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide emissions. As the number of stop signs increase above what motorists feel are necessary based on traffic volume or visibility, the frequency of rolling stops increase. There are many traffic studies which have documented that vehicle speeds at mid -block locations definitely increase as the number of stop signs increase, especially along straight roads. Staff Recommendation This area of Hopkins has a pattern or system of traffic controls. Additional controls should only be approved if there is sufficient justification based on unique, long -term circumstances. Staff doesn't feel there are unique circumstances at this intersection to warrant additional traffic control and recommends against the stop sign installations. Steven J. Stadler 1 Ng Public Works Director /City Engineer 2) 7(114) (100) (101) 2 (103) 4 5 (104)6 (I05)7 006)8 (107)9 0 (108)10 (84) 10 (76) 2 (79) 5 "r (80) 6 N (56)5 N (57) 6 (59) 8 (62) I I N °13 (63) 12 N 20(48 !9(47 18(48) 17 (45) 62/ 13(4 0 (138)5 4(147) 3046) 21 (27) 20 (26 N 15 (22) (75) 2 r (78) 5 (79) 6 (80) 7 M 1 5 Tbp S, PC-r mo IV E5W July 17, 1998 Chuck Redepenning Mayor of Hopkins 1010 — 1 Street South Hopkins, MN 55343 Dear Mr. Redepenning: We are writing to ask that additional stopsigns be installed at the intersection of 7 Avenue North and 3 Street. Currently the east — west traffic on 3 Street has stopsigns, but the north south traffic on 7 Avenue North does not. We feel strongly that the intersection needs a four way stopsign (see attached petition). Our main concern is the safety of our neighborhood children; eighteen children under the age of 10 within half a block of the proposed stopsigns. In addition, there is quite a bit of pedestrian traffic, including people associated with Chapel View, Gethsemene Lutheran Church and Alice Smith Elementary. Traffic is generated by Chapel View Nursing Home, Gethsemane Lutheran, and downtown businesses (including Hopkins Honda) in addition to general neighborhood traffic. The speed of the traffic is also of issue as cars pick up speed as they travel south. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Please let us know if we need to take additional measures. Sincerely, Tiphanie and Mark Dirnberger Joy and Tim Snyder 322 7 Avenue North 242 7th Avenue North Beth and Mark Jones 310 7t Avenue North BGt-h --S6VlLS 3t r� — 7.4-1n �fc . • Lin dcc �2 327 74 4 .,,..,,ciw ,sJ 7Le 7 airg- Sava$ 09°4 3 It 7 r--- ke. N, MAqwk.- O' lit 7No N , iW p ) 2$c» ao 4/ - 7�� /') 9 k \i t i- \ c? 4 7 ?xi.,t /0 4 .,„ se t ; , A 30 b /IAA -2,./t/e • 1 ttAi Aza 7 fi 414 . "A J. , - #h AA- 0 i 6WA (93 q 7" A-vz° A/ ao1 hli it-LAI 233 V- 640 . N E}rd¢.0 o lovain,c i,t a33 S'E' W-ve . Ki , 3/3 -7.e.4 tripy Aim 0.4 5,,,e,,, 3T - 7x6 yore 4 riA PROPOSAL FOR AN ADDITIONAL STOPSIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF 7 AVENUE NORTH AND 3 STREET NAME ADDRESS COMMENTS PROPOSAL FOR AN ADDITIONAL STOPSIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF 7T" AVENUE NORTH AND 3 STREET V ita #fifiori't Do YL� 144 API a DLE Guuktub 32Z 4 c o — 411-e_ is4) aey- 7 NAME ADDRESS COMMENTS