Adopt Resolution #21-325 Amending Municipal State Aid Street System Designations

The Municipal State Aid Street program provides funding to assist municipalities with the construction and maintenance of community-interest streets on their state aid systems. The program goals are to provide users of the secondary roadway system with safe streets, adequate mobility and structural capacity, and an integrated transportation network. The program is administered by MnDOT’s State Aid for Local Transportation.

Within each eligible city, up to 20 percent of the local streets may be designated as MSAS system routes. A street may be selected as a MSAS route if it:
• Is projected to carry a relatively heavier traffic volume or is functionally classified as collector or arterial as identified on the city’s functional classification plan.
• Connects points of major traffic interest, parks, parkways or recreational areas.
• Provides an integrated and coordinated highway and street system affording, within practical limits, a state-aid network consistent with projected traffic demands.

The function of a street may change over time requiring periodic revisions to the Municipal State Aid Street system.

The State Aid system returns gas tax money to cities based on a formula in Minnesota Statutes 162.13 which looks at the city population and the construction needs of the city.

The City needs to make some revisions to the local state aid system.  This case outlines the proposed changes..

Historically, State Aid rules allowed cities to designate future (unconstructed) routes to the MSAS system as long as the total of constructed and unconstructed routes did not exceed 20% of the total local street mileage in the city.  The City designated unconstructed routes in areas of the City that were not projected to develop soon.  Housing developments have recently occurred or will occur in areas where some of these unconstructed routes were planned.  The streets in these recent developments were not designed as collectors or arterial routes so it makes sense to remove these future routes from the map and to re-designate existing streets that are serving as collector or minor arterial routes as part of the MSAS system.

Staff also proposes to designate the planned north frontage road segment between Ramsey Boulevard/County State Aid Highway 56 and Sunfish Lake Boulevard/County State Aid Highway 57 associated with the Ramsey Gateway Highway 10 Improvements as State Aid Streets.  Unconstructed streets collect minimal dollars in the annual allotment.

The proposed changes are outlined in the attached resolution.

The annual allocation from State Aid to the City will decrease due to the proposed removal of unconstructed roads. Within a few years the annual allocation will increase as new streets are constructed.

Staff recommends approving Resolution #21-325 amending Municipal State Aid Street system designations.

On November 16, 2021, the Public Works Committee recommended approving Resolution  #21-325 amending Municipal State Aid Street system designations.

Motion to adopt Resolution #21-325 amending Municipal State Aid Street system designations.