St. Louis Park Engineering Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2656 • Fax: 952.924.2662 • TTY: 952.924.2518

Sept. 14, 2021 RE: 2022 Pavement Management Project – West Fern Hill neighborhood

Preliminary Layouts Open House #1: Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Dear Resident: A number of streets in your neighborhood have been scheduled for rehabilitation during the 2022 construction season as part of the city's Pavement Management Project. The project includes work in the Fern Hill neighborhood. There are different construction activities going on throughout the neighborhood. Please see the attachments for locations and description of proposed work. We want to ensure everyone has an opportunity to be involved in the public process, so we have provided multiple ways to get involved.

Attend an in-person open house scheduled for: Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021

5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Community Room (1st Floor), City Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd, St. Louis Park

Contact city staff to set up a virtual meeting or in-person meeting to view the preliminary layouts and discuss any concerns you may have. Contact

information is provided below.

There will be no formal presentation at this meeting, and you can attend anytime during the open house hours. The purpose of the public meeting is to gather feedback from the neighborhood. At this meeting, you will learn more about the proposed project and view preliminary layouts showing information on street improvements, sidewalks, bikeways, traffic modifications, street widths, impacted parking and utility improvements. Please see the attachments to this letter for more information on these proposed improvements. The information from this meeting will be posted on the "Pavement Management – 2022" project website (https://www.stlouispark.org/construction-updates) by the end of the day on Oct. 14, 2021. Throughout the public participation process, city staff is committed to keeping residents informed, listening to and acknowledging concerns, and providing feedback on how resident input influenced final plans. If you have questions or can't attend the meeting and would like to make arrangements to discuss the project at another time, please contact me at awiesen@stlouispark.org or 952.924.2673. I look forward to working with you and your neighbors.

Sincerely,

Aaron Wiesen, P.E. Project engineer

Attachment- Project map Project scope overview

Street width overview and map Proposed bikeway map

cc: Debra Heiser, engineering director Ward 1 councilmember, city manager Nextdoor: Fern Hill

Project scope overview: • Streets

o Watermain replacement/ Street rehabilitation: Select streets are scheduled to have the watermain and water services (to the curb stop) replaced. This work requires the removal of all the street pavement, curb, and driveway aprons. These streets are shown in blue on the attached map

o Street rehabilitation: The remaining streets will just have pavement replacement and random segments of concrete curb replaced to fix drainage issues. The repair of existing sewer structures will also occur throughout the project. These streets are shown in orange on the attached map.

• Existing sidewalks o Existing sidewalk segments will be inspected to identify tripping or drainage hazards; these

will be repaired as a part of this project. • New sidewalks

o As a part of this project, new sidewalks are proposed. Locations of these are identified by the Connect the Park plan, closing gaps in the network, and through resident requests received from the neighborhood survey in early 2021.

o The goal is to develop a comprehensive system that provides local and regional connectivity. o Locations of the proposed sidewalks can be found on the attached map.

• Bikeways o The project includes proposed bikeways through the neighborhood. Locations of these were

identified in the Connect the Park plan. The plan includes a bikeway on 26th Street, and an alternate route is being evaluated on 28th Street. More information on the type of bikeway will be shared at the open house and the project website in October. Information on the goals of Connect the Park can be found on the city website (www.stlouispark.org/connect-the-park).

• Traffic modifications o Staff received feedback regarding traffic in the neighborhood. There are various street

modifications that we can make as a part of this project that could address these concerns, such as curb extensions and neighborhood traffic circles. Before we recommend including these in the project, we would like to test them out. To do so, the city will be installing temporary traffic management modifications this October. These traffic modifications would only be installed for a few weeks to study and collect feedback from the neighborhood.

o The locations and types of the temporary traffic modifications will be shared at the open house and the project website in October.

o Recommendations for permanent traffic modifications would be shared at a later open house. • Street widths

o As part of the Pavement Management project, the city evaluates street widths and works to right-size our streets where possible. Because the curb is removed on watermain replacement streets, this provides an opportunity to review existing widths and recommend width reductions on streets wider than 28 feet wide. Some of the benefits of narrower streets are stormwater management, traffic management, pedestrian safety, snow removal and costs.

o More information on street widths can be found on the attached street width overview page and map.

NATC

HEZ A

VE S

26TH ST W

28TH ST WBA

RRY

STQU

ENTIN

Ct

OTTA

WA AV

E S

OTTAWAPL

UTIC

A AVE

S

MINNETONKA BLVD

29TH ST W

27TH ST W

31ST ST W

VERN

ON AV

E S

SERV

ICE D

R HI

GHWA

Y 100

SHI

GHWA

Y 100

S

MONT

EREY

AVE S

RALE

IGH A

VE S

QUEN

TIN AV

E S

PRIN

CETO

N AVE

S

TOLE

DO AV

E S

SALE

M AV

E S

MONTEREY PKWY

2022 Pavement Management Project

LegendExisting SidewalksExisting TrailsExisting Bikeway

Public improvements to be evaulatedBikewaysConnect the Park SidewalksSidewalk GapsResident Requested Sidewalks

2022 PM ProjectWatermain Replacement/Street RehabilitationStreet Rehabilitation

Bikeways on 26thand 28th Street being evaluated

to France Avenue

Street width overview: In order to ensure adequate stormwater drainage, replace underground city utilities and repair concrete, the city will be replacing all the concrete curb and gutter on the street segments planned for watermain replacement. When the curb and gutter are removed and replaced, the city has an opportunity to evaluate the existing street width and recommend width reductions on streets wider than 28 feet. Staff's recommended street widths are shown on the attached map and summarized below. This is the sixth year that the city has worked to right-size our streets as a part of the Pavement Management Project. Doing so is consistent with the city council's direction and policy. The city recommends street right-sizing for the following reasons:

1. Pedestrian safety: narrower streets mean that pedestrians have a shorter crossing distance at intersections.

2. Street trees: a wider grass boulevard provides more space for existing trees to thrive and for planting new trees.

3. Stormwater management: a reduction in the pavement that directly drains to the storm sewer means less runoff going into our lakes, wetlands, and rivers.

4. Heat pollution: less pavement reduces the potential for solar-generated heat, contributing to a reduction in the urban heat island effect.

5. Traffic management: narrower streets, in combination with on-street parking and street trees, can reduce vehicle speeds.

6. Snow removal: a wider boulevard provides more space for snow storage. Also, less pavement means less snow being pushed into the boulevard.

7. Cost: less pavement will mean less cost for initial construction and future maintenance (i.e., sealcoating, sweeping, salt application, snow removal, etc.)

The Police and Fire Departments have reviewed our street width standards and parking is allowed on both sides of streets that are 28 feet wide or more. For streets with widths less than 28 feet, staff recommends limiting parking to one side of the street. The following are the recommended street width changes:

Street Segment Existing (ft)

Proposed (ft)

Toledo Avenue (27th Street to 26th Street) 30 28 Salem Avenue (27th Street to 26th Street) 30 28 Raleigh Avenue (Minnetonka Blvd to 29th Street) 30 28 Raleigh Avenue (27th Street to 26th Street) 30 28 Quentin Avenue (Minnetonka Blvd to 29th Street) 30 28 Quentin Avenue (29th Street to 28th Street) 30 28 Quentin Avenue (28th Street to 27th Street) 30 28 Quentin Avenue (27th Street to 26th Street) 30 28

The remaining streets are proposed to stay at their current width.

NATC

HEZ A

VE S

26TH ST W

28TH ST WBA

RRY

STQU

ENTIN

Ct

OTTA

WA AV

E S

OTTAWAPL

UTIC

A AVE

S

MINNETONKA BLVD

29TH ST W

27TH ST W

31ST ST W

VERN

ON AV

E S

SERV

ICE D

R HI

GHWA

Y 100

SHI

GHWA

Y 100

S

MONT

EREY

AVE S

RALE

IGH A

VE S

QUEN

TIN AV

E S

PRIN

CETO

N AVE

S

TOLE

DO AV

E S

SALE

M AV

E S

MONTEREY PKWY

2022 Pavement Management Project

Legend2022 PM Project

Street RehabilitationWatermain Replacement/Street Rehabilitation

30'

30'

30'

30'

30' to

28'

30'

30'

30' to

28'

30' to

28'

30' to

28'

30' to

28'

34'

21'

21'

30'

26'

26'

29'

29'

30' 30' 30' 30' 30'

30' 30' 30' 30' 30' 30' 34'

30' 30' 30' 30' 30' 30'

26'

44' 44'

XX' Existing street width Proposed street width changesXX' TO XX'

Proposed Street Widths

30' to

28'

30' to

28'

30' to

28'

VERNON AVE S

GLENHURST AVE S

CE

DA

R LA

KE

AV

E

OTTAWA AVE S

OT

TAW

AP

L

UTICA AVE S

SE

RV

ICE

DR

HIG

HW

AY

7

29T

H S

T W

SU

NS

ET

BLV

D

28T

H S

T W

27T

H S

T W

26T

H S

T W

HUNTINGTON AVE S

INGLEWOOD AVE S

LYNN AVE S

JOPPA AVE S

QUENTINCt

CE

DA

RS

HO

RE

DR

PRINCETON CT

LAKE ST W

CE

DA

R S

T

NATCHEZ AVE S

KIPLING AVE S

HIGHWAY 100 S

MIN

NE

TO

NK

A B

LVD

SERVICE DR HIGHWAY 100 S

MONTEREY AVE S

FRANCE AVE S

RALEIGH AVE S

QUENTIN AVE S

PRINCETON AVE S

TOLEDO AVE S

SALEM AVE S

WEBSTER AVE S

MO

NTEREY PKWY

BA

RR

Y S

T

CO

UN

TY

RO

AD

25

20

22

Pave

men

t Man

agem

en

t Pro

ject- Bikew

ay

LegendBikew

ays to

be evau

late

d