Blake Road Design Process (Memo)Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
CC:
Mike Mornson, City Manager
From:
John R. Bradford, City Engineer. 6
Date: January 29, 2013
Re: Blake Road Design Process
This memo provides background information on the Blake Road corridor and a
proposed process for reconfiguring the road to be more in line with community
goals. The scope of the proposed project area extends from Excelsior Boulevard to
Hwy 7.
Background
Much work has been completed and presented to Council over the past several years
regarding the need for improvements and vision for the Blake Road corridor. Some
of the work includes:
• East Hopkins Land Use and Market Study — July 2003
• Blake Road Corridor Community Assessment — April 2008
• Blake Road Corridor Small Area Plan — May 2009
• Blake Road Pedestrian Study — February 2009
• Southwest Transitway Station Area Planning — December 2009
A base line commonality between the reports regarding Blake Road is that the
corridor needs to become much more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, while carrying
a large volume of traffic.
June 12, 2012
Challenges of note include:
• The poorly operating intersection of Hwy 7 and Blake Road. While
technically located in St. Louis Park, this intersection directly impacts Blake
Road.
• Long pedestrian crossings without safe havens.
• Many driveway entrances foster inefficient vehicular movements near
Excelsior Boulevard.
• Lack of Right of Way hinders expansion of sidewalks and installation of
streetscape elements.
We believe most of these issues can be resolved without the type of major
reconstruction currently being planned on Shady Oak Road. However, the elements
highlighted in the background reports are not inexpensive.
Development
As we look at the many projects coming up in the corridor, we see great potential
for the visions outlined in the reports above to come to fruition. However, the
increase in auto traffic, and bicycle and pedestrian movements will stretch the
current configuration of Blake Road to its functional limits.
Principal among these projects is the upcoming LRT project. The Blake Road
Station and its ancillary Transit Oriented Development (TOD) will induce
significant auto, bicycle and pedestrian traffic on Blake Road.
Adding other projects including the Cold Storage Site redevelopment and
Cottageville Park redesign and the needs and conditions on Blake Road will be
significantly different than when Blake Road was designed decades ago.
Opportunities
Because of the potential and the extended time frame of the foregoing projects, we
have a unique opportunity to proactively plan the corridor in a way that meets the
needs of these projects.
Coincidentally, this time frame and diversity of activity also affords us an
opportunity to create a collaborative plan hand in hand with stakeholders, technical
experts, regulatory agencies, and potential funding partners. This effort will
increase our ability to find acceptable solutions as well as funding outside the
typical City/County partnerships. We believe we can compete for funding from
MnDOT, Hennepin County Community Works LRT Fund, Metropolitan Council,
and the Federal Government, in addition to Hennepin County Transportation.
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June 12, 2012
We are proposing to create a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to inform the
design of Blake Road into a complete street that will meet the needs of the
community. We are proposing that the TAC have the following membership:
• Hopkins Staff
• St. Louis Park Engineering
• Hennepin County Transportation
• Hennepin County Housing, Community Works, and Transit
• MnDot
• Southwest LRT Project Office
• Metropolitan Council
• Three Rivers Park District
• Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
• Transit Station Alternative Action Plan (TSAAP)
This is a large group of stakeholders and necessitates a formal group to ensure that
their input is heard and documented.
There are a number of community partners including the Blake Road Collaborative
and Blake School that have great interest in the corridor, but are not on the TAC
membership list. We will ensure the inclusion of many non-technical stakeholders
through invitation to TAC meetings and multiple events seeking additional input.
Much input has already been received through the preliminary reports cited above.
We want to use that information before asking for more time and effort from these
residents.
Schedule
With Council assent, we intend to bring the formation of the Blake Road TAC for
Council action on February 5, 2013. Our intention is to work quickly to develop a
plan which meets the needs of the community in time to acquire funding for 2017
construction.
To aide in developing the plan, we would like to hire WSB & Associates, Inc. to do
the necessary technical engineering work. WSB is currently working on the Shady
Oak Road project and is a consultant with the TSAAP process. We believe this
positions them nicely to coordinate with the LRT project and promote productive
work with Hennepin County Transportation.
We look forward to discussing this issue with you on Tuesday.
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