Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Get ready for roundabouts along W. Broadway Ave. from SW 19th St. east to US-61 (Lake Street) in Forest Lake.

The two-lane, circular traffic flow design will make up the framework of a Broadway redesign proposal that project engineers will recommend to the Forest Lake City Council on Monday, Feb. 13.

If the city council votes to approve the plan, it will go on to the Washington County Board for its next approval step. Once the two governmental entities have approved the plan, the project will go out for final design and right-of-way acquisition can begin.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration have given the green light for the project design.

Construction on the segment of Broadway, also known as CR-2 in the county highway system, would likely begin in early 2008 and be completed by fall of 2008, engineers told the Broadway Business Task Force last Thursday.

The plan for roundabouts at most major intersections will also include a raised center island median along most of Broadway west of US-61. They will eliminate the center, left turn lanes that are now in place on Broadway.

The project management team, led by engineer Tim Chalupnik of TKDA, Inc., said a key to the teamís decision was finding a plan that would be cost manageable while improving traffic flow and safety.

With roundabouts in the mix, Chalupnik said a more costly plan for a compressed diamond interchange with a wider bridge over I-35 could be eliminated.

The estimated project cost of the roundabout plan is $12 million compared to a $15 million price task for the proposal with the diamond interchange design.

Right of way acquisition costs would be above the project construction estimates.

The roundabout plan would leave the I-35 overpass with two eastbound lanes and two westbound lanes. A small bridge widening would be needed to handle pedestrians.

Chalupnik said once the Broadway plan is set in motion, city and county planners can begin the formal study of a second I-35 overpass in Forest Lake on SW 11th Avenue. Because of the complexities and cost of the Broadway design effort, the city council last summer put the 11th Avenue project on hold.

Roundabout talk

One aspect of the roundabout project is a greater need for the acquisition of private property needed to make some of the intersection designs fit.

Under the proposal now being considered, roundabouts would be constructed at SW 19th Street, the east and west ramps of I-35, SW 12th Street, SW/NW 7th Street and Broadway and Lake Street.

The recommendation does not include a roundabout at SW/NW 4th Street, but the concept will see some extended study before the final design is put in place, engineers said.

Chalupnik reported last week that as many as two parcels of land at Broadway and 7th Street would need to be acquired, but he said the plans have not specified which two of the four corner lots would be taken.

Without a signalized Broadway-7th Street intersection, any future opening of NW 1st Avenue (west from NW 7th Street to Taco Bell) would be dropped. NW 1st Avenue has been considered for more than a decade as a way to reduce traffic pressure on Broadway and provide safe access to north side businesses.

ìI donít know if we can ever get the permits for 1st Avenue,î City Administrator Chip Robinson said. The backage road would likely be needed if signals were ordered for 7th St., officials said.

Chalupnik was more specific regarding the Lake and Broadway roundabout. It is expected the Forest Lake Gas Mart corner and the office building corner, both on the west side of Lake Street, would be subject to a taking.

With a signal light now in place at 4th Street, the project team believes that intersection can function as is without a roundabout and there is no need for the city and county to take additional private property to make room for the design.

Some form of an overpass or tunnel for the Hardwood Creek Trail is also in the plans for the Broadway crossing, Chalupnik said.

While the county is totally rebuilding Broadway from Lake Street west to SW 19th Street, the city will complete public utility infrastructure upgrades (sanitary sewer, water, storm sewer) as needed.

Comments

The use of roundabouts in Forest Lake would likely give the city the distinction of the first city to undertake a road project of this design.

Chalupnik said MnDOT has developed a ìcomfort levelî for the use of roundabouts. The state is also considering roundabouts for the two US-61/TH-97 intersections near Forest Lake High School.

The project engineers said they believe with speeds of no more than 15-20 miles an hour, traffic flow can be maintained and pedestrians will be able to safely navigate the new intersection designs. Chalupnik said the team believes roundabouts will grow in popularity.

In the state of New York, for example, they said roundabouts are now the first option for new intersection construction while signal lights are the last option.

Robinson said he has come to accept the concept, but says the bottom line is addressing the problem.

ìThe traffic patterns we have today are unacceptable,î he said. ìWe have to do something. The numbers (traffic volume, vehicle crashes) are going to get worse.î

The city administrator said he understands the business concern for the raised center islands that will prevent left-turn traffic as it now exists. But at rush hour traffic now, Robinson said, the traffic that backs up for several blocks on Broadway functions as a raised center island that prevents vehicles from making left turns.

Last weekís meeting was hosted at American Legion Post 225. Two Post officials made comments regarding how the Broadway project could impact the Legionís Fourth of July parade which utilizes Broadway and Lake Street as part of its parade route.

ìThese roundabouts are going to raise hell with our Fourth of July parade,î finance officer Tom Obst said. ìItís going to be a problem.î

ìAs well as the medians,î added Ron Weiss, a past commander.

Business owner Jack Duncan questioned the project timing and how it might impact his chiropractic clinic.

Sandy Cullen, county transportation manager, said a March to November schedule will be followed for major improvements to CR-8A in Hugo this year. She anticipates a similar tight schedule for the Forest Lake project in 2008.

ìWe know itís doable,î she said.

The Broadway Business Task Force scheduled its next meeting for 8 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 23 at the American Legion.

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