Dakota County East-West Transit Study FINAL REPORT
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March 2017 Dakota County East-West Transit Study FINAL REPORT Acknowledgements TAC Committee Members Aaron Bartling, MVTA Jen Lehmann, MVTA Kathy Bodmer, City of Apple Valley Kim Lindquist, City of Rosemount Ben Boike, City of West St. Paul Tom Link, City of Inver Grove Heights Kurt Chatfield, Dakota County John Mazzitello, City of Mendota Heights Heidi Corcoran, Dakota County John Mertens, Dakota County Pam Dudziak, City of Eagan Cameron Muhic, MnDOT Jenni Faulkner, City of Burnsville David Olson, City of Lakeville Lisa Freese, Scott County Molly Park, City of Sunfish Lake Ryan Garcia, City of South St. Paul Amy Patnode, City of Eagan Joe Gladke, Hennepin County Joseph Scala, Hennepin County Andy Gitzlaff, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Connor Schaefer, Washington County Authority Angie Stenson, Scott County Peter Hellegers, City of South St. Paul Sarah Thomas, City of Eagan Cole Hiniker, Metropolitan Council Scott Thompson, Metro Transit Neal Hildebrandt, Dakota County Community Development Agency Hally Turner, Washington County John Hinzman, City of Hastings Tony Wippler, City of Farmington Jarrett Hubbard, Scott County Katie White, Metropolitan Council Emily Jorgensen, Washington County Courtney Whited, DARTS Carl Jensen, MnDOT Kyle Klatt, City of Rosemount Steering Committee Members Cyndi Harper, Metro Transit Amy Vennewitz, Metropolitan Council Jane Kansier, MVTA Katie White, Metropolitan Council Mark Krebsbach, Dakota County Luther Wynder, MVTA Jen Lehmann, MVTA i Policymaker Work Group Ann Bailey, DARTS Tom Lawell, City of Apple Valley Karla Bigham, Washington County Matt Little, City of Lakeville Karen Bremer, Nininger Township Mark Lofthus, Dakota County Steven Chavez, Metropolitan Council Tim Mayasich, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority William Droste, City of Rosemount Scott McBride, MnDOT Maggie Dykes, Dakota County Bruce Nordquist, City of Apple Valley Chris Gerlach, Dakota County Dave Osberg, City of Eagan Jenny Halverson, West St. Paul Matt Parent, Dakota County Mary Hamann-Roland, City of Apple Valley Nancy Schouweiler, Dakota County Gary Hansen, City of Eagan Mary Schultz, City of Lilydale Steve Haschig, DARTS Michael Slavik, Dakota County Clint Hooppaw, MVTA Tom Taylor, City of Burnsville Elizabeth Kautz, City of Burnsville George Tourville, Inver Grove Heights Ed Kearney, City of Apple Valley Liz Workman, Dakota County Sandra Krebsbach, Mendota Heights Dakota County Staff Kristine Elwood, Dakota County Joe Morneau, Dakota County Consultant Team Chelsey Hendrickson, Kimley-Horn Steven Ruegg, Parsons Brinkerhoff Anna Potter, Kimley-Horn Brian Smalkoski, Kimley-Horn ii Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................ ES-1 CHAPTER 1 Background and Context ............................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2 Related Projects and Plans ........................................................................ 7 CHAPTER 3 Study Area Characteristics ......................................................................13 CHAPTER 4 Stakeholder Engagement .........................................................................21 CHAPTER 5 Evaluation Framework ...............................................................................29 CHAPTER 6 Travel Demand Analysis ............................................................................33 CHAPTER 7 Corridor Evaulation .....................................................................................37 CHAPTER 8 Recommendations.......................................................................................41 iii Executive Summary East-west transit connectivity has come up Stakeholder Engagement Strategies frequently as an important topic as each transitway is studied in Dakota County. Regional agencies, counties, and local As one nears the center of the Twin Cities entities have completed a total of 34 Metropolitan Area, the range of transit plans, studies, and projects that have service options and coverage is much greater or may have an influence on transit than it is within and through Dakota County. service in the study area. Most projects With the primarily north-south orientation and plans reviewed are supportive of expanding transit service in Dakota of the METRO Red, Orange, and Blue Lines County. as well as the north-south orientation of the planned Robert Street and Red Rock Corridors, all existing and planned transitway service in the area is largely designed to Study Area provide frequent service into the downtown cores of Minneapolis or Saint Paul. However, Characteristics many residents lack reliable options to The study area included the cities of Mendota connect to transit centers, major destinations, Heights, West St. Paul, South St. Paul, and employment opportunities within and Mendota, Lilydale, Sunfish Lake, Inver Grove surrounding Dakota County. Developing Heights, Eagan, Burnsville, Apple Valley, improved east-west service to provide a Rosemount, Coates, Hastings, Lakeville, and more comprehensive network for Dakota Farmington and the townships of Nininger, County, its cities, and the surrounding Marshan, Vermillion, Ravenna, and Empire. counties is critical to support these growing The East-West Transit Study also considered communities. transit options that extended outside the study area or the county if there were logical Purpose of Study or compelling destinations or connections. The Dakota County East-West Transit Study Study area characteristics were reviewed and (East-West Transit Study) was needed to analyzed in order to better understand the address existing and emerging needs for east- demographics, travel patterns, development west oriented transit in the county. The East- patterns, and infrastructure within the study West Transit Study looked for opportunities area that may inform the need for transit. to improve the quality of fixed route transit service in Dakota County and improve Demographics connections to the regional transit system by The highest concentrations of minority identifying and evaluating potential transit residents live in the northern and western corridors. Recommendations were developed parts of the study area. The areas with to improve connections to employment, the highest percentage of people with low improve mobility to and from areas adjacent incomes (living under 185 percent of the to the county, and expand the range of travel poverty line) are in South St. Paul, West St. options for transit-dependent populations. Paul, and Burnsville. Most of those living in the study area have access to a personal vehicle, and most speak English very well. ES-1 Figure 0.1: Composite Map of Study Area Characteristics Travel and Development Patterns operate 35 local and express transit routes throughout the study area. The western and northern parts of the study area include a variety of residential, commercial, and institutional land uses and Stakeholder Engagement have higher population and employment density than the largely agricultural eastern The goal of the public engagement efforts for and southern parts of the study area. the East-West Transit Study was to engage Important destinations and regional job and the public and stakeholders in identifying activity centers are more common in the and evaluating existing and future east-west northern and western part of the study area. oriented transit needs. A Public Involvement Plan (PIP) was developed to clarify the goals Infrastructure and objectives for public outreach and engagement. Some study area communities, such as Hastings, South St. Paul, and West St. Paul, feature traditional street grid patterns with connected sidewalk systems. Other communities within the study area, such as Apple Valley, Burnsville, and Eagan, feature more suburban style street patterns that are supplemented with a fairly consistent network of shared-use trails, approximately one-mile apart along major thoroughfares. Interstate 35E, as well as Highway 52, MN-13, MN-77, MN-55 are key regional corridors that serve the study area. Metro Transit and the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) ES-2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE The East-West Transit Study engaged Maximize regional transit connectivity stakeholders through communications Maximize transit ridership materials, public and stakeholder meetings, and committee workshops. Stakeholder input Respond to present and future travel helped determine corridor extents, was used patterns are supported by existing and to evaluate corridors, and influenced the planned land use corridor recommendations. Improve access to employment, institutions, and services Key themes identified multiple times in the engagement process included the desire Incorporate safe, convenient, and for transit service along County Road 42, a multimodal access and facilities direct connection to the METRO Blue Line, connections to colleges and other educational institutions, and existing transit service Corridor Evaluation modifications. The TAC identified the following corridors for assessment using the goals and measures Travel Demand Analysis developed in the evaluation framework: Evaluation of the travel demand potential for Butler Avenue (CSAH 4) east-west corridors in Dakota County was Wentworth Avenue (CSAH 8) performed using a variety of survey and GPS- based data sources in order to assess current MN-110 travel patterns within the study area. Lone Oak Road (CSAH 26) Using four distinct datasets based on current, Yankee