Highway 371 North Improvement Project

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Pequot Lakes -Hwy 371 North July 19, 2005 Page 5 of 12 onto TH 371, and then wanting to get into a right-off onto West Woodman will have to weave across lanes within two blocks—not as safe a maneuver as MnDOT would want to promote. The Committee wants more MnDOT consideration of this right-in for West Woodman Street (no right-out). Northbound at East Woodman Street: With the Trailside Building and parking lot off of East Woodman Street, the Committee favored a right-in only(no right-out) at this location. From MnDOT's latest layout, it did not appear such an additional right-turn lane would impact/overlap with the proposed right-turn lane for CSAH 11/main Street. MnDOT has indicated that it will probably allow this access. Northbound at East Sibley Street: The Committee dropped this request after review of MnDOT's latest layout in the area. This layout includes a right-in right-out intersection at Jokela Street on the east side of TH 371 as well as a backage road connecting to Government Drive to form a continuous backage/frontage road. The Committee supports the layout in this area. 36. The possibility of looking at a relocation of CSAH 11 south to align with the present East Woodman Street or with the present Morehouse Drive has been suggested and reviewed. The County has said that when it comes to relocating a County State Aid Highway(CSAH), historically,the County has responded only when the City initiates it. A study needs to be done first and the County generally participates in its cost. The Committee reviewed relocation options and considered a number of factors including: right-of-way costs, existing buildings,terrain, traffic signal spacing, and traffic patterns. From the TH 371 /Morehouse Drive intersection,the "new" CSAH 11 is proposed to proceed east along Morehouse Drive to the northeast corner of the Industrial Park. It would then continue north and east to connect back into the present CSAH 11. This alignment is recommended by the Committee, although it is also recommended that construction of this realignment be delayed until some time after the completion of the TH 371 project. The Committee recommends that the City take actions to identify and preserve a corridor along this general route for such a time when construction of this realignment is desired. JAI30PQLAK\025-MnDOT TH371 Improvements\Meetings\071905 Council Workshop update-memo.doc