Approve Letter of Support for Anoka County Grant Application for Roundabout at Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to approve a Letter of Support for Anoka County’s grant application through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive.

Background:
Anoka County Highway Department Staff contacted City Staff on July 27^th requesting a Letter of Support for their Highway Safety Improvement Program grant application for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive by August 20^th.
 
Anoka County is still working on their HSIP application so a copy of their application was not yet available for attaching to this case.  However, based on the preliminary information provided to Staff, a higher than average number of crashes have been observed over the last three years at this intersection, which results in a benefit to cost ratio in excess of 5, which means it should rank very competitively against other projects.
 
This is a skewed intersection, meaning the legs of the intersection are not at right angles to each other, which significantly reduces visibility for drivers entering and crossing the intersection.  To address this safety concern, Anoka County enlisted the services of a consulting engineer to complete an Intersection Control Evaluation for this intersection, and prepared the attached conceptual layout showing a roundabout at this intersection.       
 
Attached is a draft Letter of Support for Anoka County’s HSIP application.  Following Council approval of the letter, Staff will sign and submit the letter to Anoka County by August 20^th as requested.

N/A

Observations:
Attached is a preliminary layout of the proposed roundabout.  According to Anoka County, they feel strongly that this project will rank very well against other HSIP applications and they propose to construct the roundabout in the year 2022.

Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion to approve a Letter of Support for Anoka County’s Highway Safety Improvement Program grant application for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive.

Alternative #2 – Motion to deny approval of a Letter of Support for Anoka County’s Highway Safety Improvement Program grant application for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive at this time.
 

No costs are associated with this request.  If HSIP funds are awarded for the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive, Anoka County and the City of Ramsey would split the local share of the costs per Anoka County’s cost-share policy (see attached).
 
HSIP funds cover up to 90% of project costs. Anoka County has estimated project costs to be $1.5M.  If HSIP funds are awarded to Anoka County for this project, the local share of project costs are therefore anticipated to be $150,000.  The City’s anticipated share of the costs is roughly half the local costs, or $75,000.

Staff supports this request based on the existing skewed geometrics of the intersection and the higher than average number of crashes observed over the last three years.

Motion to approve a Letter of Support for Anoka County’s Highway Safety Improvement Program grant application for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of CSAH 83/Armstrong Boulevard and Alpine Drive.