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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTraffic Issues Hwy 5 and Stillwater High School o\NNESpT� Minnesota Department of Transportation ,�O 2 Q Metropolitan Division Transportation Building oF P��e° St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Oakdale Office, 3485 Hadley Avenue North, Oakdale, Minnesota 55128 Golden Valley Office, 2055 North Lilac Drive, Golden Valley, Minnesota 55422 5801 Duluth St. Reply to Golden Valley, MN 55422 Telephone No. (612) 591 -4605 August 19, 1993 Mr. Lindy Swanson Chief of Police City of Oak Park Heights 14168 57* Street North P. O. Box 2007 Oak Park Heights, Minnesota 55082 Re: C. S. 8214 (T. H. 36) South Frontage Road Parking Restrictions at T. H. 5 Dear Chief Swanson: Chuck Siggerud has asked me to investigate and respond to your letter of August 1& regarding the school district's concern about the possibility of students parking on the frontage road near the new Stillwater Area High School. We agree that it is not desirable to permit parking on this road as the pavement is only wide enough to accommodate two standard traffic lanes, the shoulders are quite narrow and the shoulder slopes are steep. While we appreciate the need to head off any problems before they occur, it is usual Mn /DOT practice to only install " NC PARKING" signs in locations where there have been actual problems with parked vehicles. Because of sign maintenance requirements, conflicts with other maintenance activities, and the fact that any obstruction close to the roadway must be considered a hazard, Mn /DOT would prefer to limit sign installations as much as possible. In this particular case, we note that the frontage road is at some distance from the school and that the available width is inadequate for normal parking. We believe that these factors make the road quite unattractive as a potential parking location. We would like to suggest that the students be informed by announcements and /or bulletin notices on the first days of classes that parking is not permitted on the frontage road. We would then ask that your department and the school district keep alert to any parking problems that may develop in the next several weeks. If these problems persist and cannot be solved in any other manner, Mn /DOT will be prepared to install NO PARKING signs on An Egiunl Opportunity Em}rloyer I Mr. Lindy Swanson August 19, 1993 Page Two short notice. (In the notification to students, it could be stated that signing will be installed and enforcement will be carried out if students are observed to be parking on the frontage road.) Sincerely, ,r c� A ? I S. IKATZ, • E . Division Traffic Engineer i i �� ZD Minnesota Department of Transportation Metropolitan District -+ ; Transportation Building �F, �Q St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 OF Tvkw Oakdale Office, 3485 Hadley Avenue North, Oakdale, Minnesota 55128 Golden Valley Office, 2055 North Lilac Drive, Golden Valley, Minnesota 55422 Reply to Oakdale Office Telephone No. November 4, 1993 Mr. Dave Wettergren Superintendent of Schools 1875 Greeley St. Stillwater 11N 55082 Re: C.S. 8214 (T.H. 5) at 58th Street Stillwater High School Entrance Dear Mr. Wettergren: This letter is in response to the questions directed to our office regarding the traffic conditions at the intersection of T.H. 5 and 58th street (Stillwater High School entrance) . Let me begin by assuring you that we appreciate your concerns and are committed to doing everything within our power to improve the existing conditions. As you know, during the morning hours, vehicles turning left into the school back up onto southbound T.H. 5. Several factors contribute to this problem: 1. The total left turn volume into the high school between 7:00 and 8:00 AM is 459 vehicles. This volumelis much higher than the capacity of the existing lane. The rule of thumb is that two turn lanes are needed if the turn volume exceeds 300 vehicles in one hour. Please keep in mind that the geometric improvements in the area were part of an interim project to help traffic flow on T.H. 5. In doing these improvements, we were constrained by the existing right of way. T.H. 5 is scheduled to be widened to 2 lanes in each direction in 1997. 2. Of those 459 vehicles, 229 turn left between 7:30 and 7:45 AM. This is a tremendous concentration of vehicles turning in a very short time period. It is physically impossible for one lane to handle this much traffic in this time period without delay and backups. The existing traffic signal was built to allow vehicles to complete the maneuver in a safe manner with minimum delay. An Equal Opportunity Employer Dave Wettergren November 4, 1993 Page Two 3. Among those 459 vehicles are numerous school buses. Buses occupy large storage spaces in the turn lane and need more time to complete the turning maneuver. 4. The entrance on 58th street is the only major entrance to the school, the only other being a right -in, right -out entrance south of 58th street, that was only recently opened. All the vehicles coming from the north, from T.H. 36, are forced to use the first entrance causing heavy congestion. T.H. 5 was never intended to handle all the traffic volume generated by the school. We believe that another entrance should be built on the east side of the school. 5. Problems with the traffic circulation inside the school parking lot cause vehicles entering the school to stop and queue all the way back to the entrance on T.H. 5. Increasing the green time designated for the left turn movement would not improve traffic conditions because the school entrance is blocked by queued vehicles. 6. The school starts at 8:00 AM which coincides with the AM peak hour; 550 vehicles travel south on T. 4. 5 between 7:00 and 8:00 AM. Other schools start at earlier times to avoid rush hour traffic. The Burnsville High School, for example, starts at 7:00 AM. Your school should consider changing, or at least staggering, its starting time. Based on your comments, we have reviewed the operation of the signal and have determined that it does not have any malfunctions. Furthermore, we are certain that the existing signal is operating as well as it can under the existing conditions. This is evident from the fact that backups disappear around 8:00 AM after school traffic is gone. The Traffic Office anticipated this problem before the school opened and has been working to improve traffic conditions as much as possible. It is important for you to understand that this is a capacity problem and it will not be totally solved until T.H. 5 is widened and the conditions listed in the six factors listed above are changed. i Dave Wettergren November 4, 1993 Page Three Please be assured that we are prepared to take any appropriate and viable action that will improve conditions at this intersection. In fact, we are willing to work with you to alleviate the intensity of the problem and identify viable long term solutions. Your cooperation is needed. In the meantime, we will continue to answer all your questions and concerns. We do, however, request that you designate one person in your school to be the primary contact with our office. Please have your contact direct all questions to me at 779 -5047 or to Robert Betts at 779 -5189. We look forward to working with you. Sincerely, N -- &0►�oV. Amr K. abr Signal Operations Engineer cc /Dr. Jon Swenson - Principal Ann Beers - State Patrol (Oakdale)