City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan 11. TRANSPORTATION Goal: Provide a transportation system that has convenient and effective multi-modal connections within Arden Hills and to adjacent municipalities, the remainder of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area and greater Minnesota. To achieve this transportation goal, the following policies are proposed: o Approach transportation in a comprehensive manner by giving attention to all travel modes and related facilities, linking transit and land use and by combining or concentrating various land use activities to reduce the need for transportation facilities. o Coordinate transportation plans with adjacent communities and the County, State, and Federal governments to assure system continuity, determine priorities, increase safety, and to efficiently use resources and reduce congestion. o Create/provide a safe, cost effective, and efficient transportation system that is adequate for car, transit, pedestrian, bicycle, and truck transportation for the movement of people and goods and services in the community. o Encourage transportation methods that are less dependent on motor vehicles such as walking, biking, and transit. o Maintain the existing transportation infrastructure to protect the existing investments, increase efficiency, and delay the need for improvement or expansion. Where necessary, expand the City’s transportation system to meet current and future transportation needs. o Continue to work with the County and State elected and appointed officials to include County road reconstruction projects to address needed reconstruction and potential trails along the roadways when improved. o Work with developers to construct needed improvements prior to development. o Work to manage traffic in residential neighborhoods to not overburden any particular City street. 11.1 INTRODUCTION The transportation system in the City of Arden Hills is largely established, made up of metropolitan freeways and highways, County roads, and City streets. Except for the proposed TCAAP redevelopment, the City’s transportation system is not likely to see major changes in the next 10 to 20 years. The fact that the network is established, however, does not diminish the importance of continually monitoring the system to ensure that it performs adequately. As such, whether an existing roadway is proposed for upgrading or a land use change is proposed on a property, this Plan provides the framework for decisions regarding the nature of roadway infrastructure improvements necessary to achieve safety, adequate access, mobility, and performance of the existing and future roadway system. Approved: November 2019 11-1 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Arden Hills is classified by the Metropolitan Council under the Suburban community designation. Suburban communities typically have automobile-oriented development patterns. Suburban communities are expected to plan for forecasted population and household growth at average densities of at least five units per acre for new development and redevelopment. In addition, Suburban communities are expected to target opportunities for more intensive development near regional transit investments identified in the Metropolitan Council 2040 Transportation Policy Plan. This chapter includes established local goals, policies, standards, and guidelines to implement a future roadway network and transit vision that is coordinated with respect to county, regional, and state plans in such a way that the transportation system enhances quality economic and residential development within the City of Arden Hills. This chapter also includes two appendices. Appendix B describes the general transportation system principles and standards, including functional classification, roadway capacity by type, access management guidelines, geometric design standards, and roadway jurisdiction. Appendix C includes the full transportation forecast and traffic modeling methodology. 11.2 EXISTING TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM EVALUATION The transportation system in Arden Hills includes a roadway system that accommodates a variety of vehicles including cars, trucks, and public transit. Transportation also includes pedestrian movement and bicycles, which is also discussed in Chapter 9 (Parks & Recreation) of this Plan. While upgrades will need to be made over time, existing City controlled roads provide sufficient transportation service to the City. 11.2.1 Existing Traffic Volumes and Capacity Issues Roadway capacity and roadway safety are two key indicators of how well the roadway system is meeting the city’s transportation needs. The sections below provide information to better understand capacity and safety issues within Arden Hills. A roadway’s capacity indicates how many vehicles may use a roadway before it experiences congestion. Capacity is largely dependent upon the number of lanes. Table 11.1 below lists planning-level thresholds that indicate a roadway’s capacity. Additional variation (more or less capacity) on an individual segment is influenced by a number of factors including: amount of access, type of access, peak hour percent of traffic, directional split of traffic, truck percent, opportunities to pass, amount of turning traffic, the availability of dedicated turn lanes, parking availability, intersection spacing, signal timing and a variety of other factors. Approved: November 2019 11-2 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Table 11.1 – Planning-Level Roadway Capacity Daily Two-Way Volume Lower Higher Facility Type Threshold Threshold Arterials Two-lane undivided 10,000 12,000 Two-lane divided or three-lane 15,000 17,000 undivided Four-lane undivided 18,000 22,000 Four-lane divided or five-lane undivided 28,000 32,000 Freeways Four-lane freeway 60,000 80,000 Six-lane freeway 90,000 120,000 Eight-lane freeway or higher Calculated on a segment by segment basis At the planning level, capacity problems are identified by comparing the existing number of lanes with current traffic volumes. Table 11.2 and Figure 11.1 illustrate the existing number of lanes on arterial roadways within the city. Figure 11.2 illustrates existing traffic volumes on Principal Arterial, A-Minor Arterial and other significant roadways within the city. Congestion analysis shows I-35W and I-694 as the roadways with significant congestion. The rest of the existing transportation system throughout Arden Hills is primarily periodically congested, with areas that are near congested. Of primary concern to the City of Arden Hills is the congestion on TH 51/Hamline Avenue, south of I-694 and the county roadways at the interchanges with I-35W. This indicates that the congestion on I-35W is impacting the county roadways that have access to it. As I-35W becomes more congested, more traffic will likely use TH 51 or other adjacent minor arterials as an alternate route, which may also become congested. Approved: November 2019 11-3 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Table 11.2 – Existing Number of Lanes on Arterial Roads Functional Roadway Name Location Number of Classification Lanes Principal Arterial I-35W Western border 6-8 I-694 I-35W to Lexington Avenue 4 “A” Minor TH 51 (Snelling Southern border to I-694 4 Augmentor Avenue) Lexington Avenue Southern border to I-694 3-5 (CSAH 51) “A” Minor Expander Lexington Avenue I-694 to County Road I 4-5 (CSAH 51) County Highway 96 I-35W to Lexington Avenue 4 Hamline Avenue I-694 to County Highway 96 3 (CSAH 50) “A” Minor Reliever US Highway 10 I-35W to I-694 4 Cleveland Avenue County Road D to County 2 (CSAH 46) Road E2 Approved: November 2019 11-4 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Figure 11.1 – Existing Number of Lanes Approved: November 2019 11-5 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Figure 11.2 – Existing Traffic Volumes Approved: November 2019 11-6 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan 11.2.2 Safety A planning-level analysis of the existing transportation system in Arden Hills was completed and included evaluating crash records for crash trends, the types of crashes most commonly occurring, and where crash trends may exist. In the five-year time period from January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2015, there were 2,340 crashes on the roadways within or adjacent to the City of Arden Hills. The locations with high crash rates are primarily on the county and state highway intersections (Figure 11.3). Locations with the highest crash frequency are on I- 694 with TH 51, and I-694 with I-35W. Additionally, there are high crash rates along I-35W and I-694 at every interchange location. Other locations off the freeway with high crash frequency are the intersections of TH 10/Old Highway 10 with CSAH 96, TH 51 with County Road E, CSAH 96 with Hamline Avenue, and Hamline Avenue with CR F. Of the 2,340 crashes, there were 4 fatalities, 113 included injuries, 353 had possible injuries, and 1,870 involved property damage only. Rear end crashes represented 52 percent of the crashes, and 5 percent were right angle crashes. Half of the total crashes occurred at intersections. Approved: November 2019 11-7 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Figure 11.3 – 2011-2015 Crash Density by Location Approved: November 2019 11-8 City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan 11.2.3 Jurisdictional Issues There are no planned jurisdictional transfers planned between Arden Hills and Ramsey County. The City desires active participation in any jurisdictional discussion. 11.2.4 Relevant Transportation Studies A number of studies have been completed or are