2016-01-19 Council Workshop minutes- TH 110 UnderpassCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY
STATE OF MINNESOTA
Minutes of the Council Workshop
Held Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a workshop of the Mendota Heights City Council was held at City
Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Krebsbach called the ineeting to order at 6:21 p.m. Councilmembers present included Norton,
Petschel, and Krebsbach. Councilors Povolny and Duggan were absent. Also in attendance were City
Administrator Mark McNeill, City Attorney Tom Lehman, Public Works Director/City Engineer John
Mazzitello, Police Chief Mike Aschenbrener, and John Mertens of the Dakota County Parks Department.
TRUNK HIGHWAY 110 UNDERPASS DISCUSSION
Mazzitello explained the Dakota County Project Management Team recommendation for the TH 110
crossing. He said that it was possible to design and build an expanded box culvert to be a size identical to
the three-sided arch, which the City Council had earlier preferred. The size-20 feet wide by �12 feet
tall—would allow the width of a trail to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians on separate paths. There
would be an opening in the median, between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 110. The
advantage of the box culvert would be that it would cost approximately $1 million less than the three-sided
arch, and would mean that traffic on TH 110 would not be disrupted for as long during construction.
The Council viewed architectural renderings of the box culvert, and a three-sided arch.
Questions were asked about snow removal, and drainage. Also discussed was a desire to soften the impact
of the retaining wall, which Mertens explained might be done through terracing. Norton asked whether a
staircase could be added to reduce the ramp travel distance. It was agreed that that could be explored, and
that the cost of a staircase would be manageable.
Mertens said that the current allocation of County funding would allow for the construction of the
expanded underpass, with some level of improvements which were acceptable to the City. As a result, no
State bonding money would be needed.
The consensus of the Council was that the request for the state bonding money would be withdrawn for this
year, and that the City would instead regroup, and work to provide for a pedestrian underpass under podd
Road north of TH 110. If necessary, state bonding money could be sought for the next biennium bonding
bill in 2018.
Motion Petschel, second Norton, to adjourn the
ATTEST:
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Lorri Smith, City Clerk
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meeting at 6:41 .m. Motion carried 3-0.
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Sandra Krebsbach, yor
Janumy 19, 2016 Atendota Heights Council Workshop Page 2