Prior Lake, Scott County nearing options for 21/13 reconstruction project

Prior Lake American

Changes are coming to downtown Prior Lake — it's just a matter of what those changes will be.

The Scott County Board and the Prior Lake City Council met for the third time Thursday to discuss the County Highway 21 and Trunk Highway 13 reconstruction project.

Scott County is looking for feedback on the four main options (though each option has several design variations) for the project through the website for the reconstruction, the Scott County website and several surveys. The presentation from the meetingis on the city of Prior Lake's website.

Options A1 and A2 would put the primary intersection with either a traffic signal or roundabout at Arcadia Avenue. Options B1 and B2 would have the primary intersection with either a traffic signal or roundabout at Main Avenue.

The project is looking at seven main concerns — how the project would affect vehicle mobility, safety of all users, maintaining and enhancing existing roadways, non-motorized transportation that works in conjunction with the motorized roadways, infrastructure that's compatible with the environment, developing a financially responsible plan and preserving and enriching the character of downtown Prior Lake.

"We look at a lot of different factors ... you measure each alternative against the goals and the elected officials will make their determination," said Matt Pacyna, a senior associate with the SRF Consulting Group, Inc., hired by the city to work on the project. "From a project staff perspective, we make our recommendation and how much flexibility and risk there is associated with some of these and how the city looks in the future relative to what it looks like now."

As with any project, no option is 100 percent perfect:

• A1 would have the lowest property impact, best pedestrian crossing options and highest driver and pedestrian safety but also has fewer downtown access points, less efficient traffic operations and is the most expensive option at $10.2 million.

• A2 would have minimal property impact, most efficient traffic operations and best accommodates local and regional traffic but also has highest number of possible crashes, a risk in funding eligibility from the Metropolitan Council and low pedestrian safety due to roundabouts. The cost is estimated at $7.3 million.

• B1 would have the a high number of downtown access points, managed traffic movements and would have the lowest cost at $7.2 million but also would have less efficient traffic operations, the longest pedestrian wait times and higher possibility of fatal and serious crashes.

• B2 would have a high number of downtown access points, most efficient traffic operations, best accommodates local and regional traffic but also would have the most property impact, highest probability of crashes, low pedestrian safety and highest potential for intersection blockages. The estimated cost is $7.35 million.

The Metropolitan Council approved funding for the project for just under $5 million more than 10 years ago with the first option presented. However, any options with roundabouts might need to go back before the Metropolitan Council for approval due to the changes from the original proposal, which would mean the federal funding could stay the same but could also be reduced or eliminated completely.

"That one was an obvious one we needed to compare others to, recognizing that 12 years ago, roundabouts were pretty new," said Chris Chromy, a project manager for Bolton & Menk, the consultants hired by Scott County. "Roundabouts had not been considered ... so we needed to consider them. The primary intersections being at Arcadia or Main has really been public input."

Even the roundabouts versus traffic signals have advantages and disadvantages. Vehicles yield to pedestrians on crosswalks at a near 100 percent rate at traffic signals, but only about 45 percent of the time at multi-lane roundabouts. There are also a higher likelihood of crashes at multi-lane roundabouts, but these crashes tend to be less severe than say, someone running a red light, due to reduced speed.

"You are twice as likely to get into a crash at a multi-lane roundabout than at a single, but half as likely to be injured," Chromy said.

Residents were asked to submit comment through a previous survey.

Michael Murphy wrote in his survey that "preserving the character of Prior Lake is critical."

Another user whose name wasn't shown said that they "would love to see a design that supports all users of the street and would encourage the use of creative, non-traditional design to accomplish this." Some wrote that a pedestrian crossing network wasn't a priority, while other responses named it a critical issue.

Though final layout is decided by the county and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Prior Lake City Council would need to hold a public hearing and approve the county's decision. City and project staff will also submit a preferred option at some point in November.

A majority of residents have been silent on the issue, Chromy said.

"There's a super majority that is silent," he said. "We are trying to get to the other people that have opinions, too. I would really encourage them to get out and identify what they can support and can't support and why."

Pacyna said he agreed that public response was vital in deciding the future of the project.

Public input through the survey will be accepted until Oct. 27. There will be an open house on Oct. 10.