Hwy 63 - Spring Valley Reconstruction

During the July 2023 community survey, we heard concern about impacts to residents and property owners between Tracy Rd. and Griswold St. We began an effort to directly contact residents and property owners to inform them and gather their thoughts.

Two letters were sent to each resident and/or property owner. Information about the project was provided. People were asked to attend a Dec. 7, 2023, meeting. The letter also provided instructions on how to share their input if they were not able to make the meeting. We know that not everyone received the letters or participated. Individuals who missed this opportunity are encouraged to contact Cindy Morgan at Cindy.Morgan@state.mn.us or 507-951-6593.

During the Dec. 7, meeting we provided a presentation on the proposed improvements, schedule, and design options under consideration. Below is a summary of the feedback we received.

Design options:

Residents/property owners were asked to provide feedback on their preferred design and rank the importance of corridor issues. Option D was the most preferred. Option A was the least preferred.

Most preferred: Option D

View larger image

• No parking on either side or the road
• A wide shoulder for bicyclists on both sides of the road
  • This would also benefit wider vehicles such as agriculture equipment
• Sidewalks on both sides of the road
• The narrowing of the road will naturally signal to drivers to slow down
• This option has minor impacts to property
  • To allow for these roadway features and correct drainage issues, the construction limits (yellow line) would remain close to the right of way (red dashed line) on both sides of the road. This decreases the likelihood that property owners would experience impacts to their property

2nd preferred: Option C

View larger image

• Parking on one side of the road and a wide shoulder for bicyclists on the other
  • This would also benefit wider vehicles such as agriculture equipment
• Sidewalks on both sides of the road
• A slightly narrower road would naturally indicate to drivers to slow down
• This option has some impacts to property
  • To allow for these roadway features and correct drainage issues, the construction limits (yellow line) would extend beyond the right of way (red dashed line) on one side of the road. The construction limits would be closer to the right of way on the other side. This increases the likelihood that property owners would experience impacts to their property, but only on one side of the highway

3rd preferred: Option B

View larger image

• Parking on one side of the road
• A sidewalk one side and a multi-use trail on the other
• A slightly narrower road would naturally indicate to drivers to slow down
• This option has some impacts to property
  • To allow for these roadway features and correct drainage issues, the construction limits (yellow line) would extend beyond the right of way (red dashed line) on one side of the road. The construction limits would be closer to the right of way on the other side. This increases the likelihood that property owners would experience impacts to their property, but only on one side of the highway

Least preferred: Option A

View larger image

• Parking available on both sides of road
• Sidewalk available on both sides of road
• Maintains the current width of the road. Number of speeding vehicles would likely not change
• This option would have significant impacts to property
  • To allow for these roadway features and correct drainage issues, the construction limits (yellow line) would extend beyond the right of way (red dashed line). This increases the likelihood that property owners would experience impacts to their property on both sides of the highway

Corridor issues:

Ranked by feedback from most important to least important

1. Pedestrian/sidewalk improvements
2. Traffic calming/reducing speeds
3. Freight/agricultural traffic
4. On-street parking - one or both sides
5. Minimize impacts to property and/or vegetation
6. Bicyclists/bike facilities

Comments:

Please note, this is not a full list of all comments received.

• Some expressed that there are no existing bike facilities to connect to on the ends of the corridor. They suggest ensuring those issues are also addressed if bike facilities are installed with this project
• Bike facilities would not be used on such a busy road
• Concerns about safety, especially large truck traffic, improper lane use, and winter maintenance
• Some noted a need for parking for emergency, garbage and delivery vehicles
• Others noted that parking is not needed and/or is not safe on this highway
• Request for new/better street lighting
• Suggestion to add turn lanes
• Acknowledgement of issues at major intersections and support for a change

Thank you to everyone who participated in the community survey. The online survey was open from June - August 2023, and over 130 surveys were completed. Project staff also collected feedback from community members at a Wednesdays on Broadway event. Corridor maps and design options were available for review and comment.

Roadway design

Participants reviewed four different roadway design options and were asked to rate their satisfaction with each. The options showed different roadway elements (e.g., lane widths, parking and wide vs. narrow shoulders) and pedestrian/bicycle elements (e.g., sidewalks, shared use path, and bikeable shoulders). Option D was the preferred design.

Option D features included:

• No parking on either side or the road
• A wide shoulder for bicyclists on both sides of the road
• Sidewalks on both sides of the road
• The narrowing of the road will naturally signal to drivers to slow down
• This option has minor impacts to property
  • To allow for these roadway features and correct drainage issues, the construction limits (yellow line) would remain close to the right of way (red dashed line) on both sides of the road. This decreases the likelihood that property owners would experience impacts to their property

View full-sized image

Survey results and summary of comments

This project will remove the entire road and replace it with new materials. MnDOT will also construct new curbs, gutters, and sidewalks.

Improving the sidewalks and the drainage of the roadway is also a vital goal of the project.

Existing roadway

The image below shows and example cross section of the current roadway. The steep slopes in portions of the corridor create drainage issues. Some pedestrians find them difficult to navigate. Also, the sidewalks are not ADA compliant.

Flattening the corridor will fix drainage issues. The sidewalks will also become ADA compliant.

View larger-image

Design Standards

The team is designing the road to meet these standards:

Roadways

• The slope across the driving lane should not exceed 2.5%.
• The slope across the parking lane should not exceed 5.0%.

Sidewalks and crosswalks:

• The slopes of sidewalks in the direction of travel cannot be more than 5.0%. (0.6 inch of rise for every foot of travel)
• The slope across a sidewalk cannot be more than 2.0%. (0.24 inch of rise for every foot across)

Curb ramps:

• The slope of the curb ramps in the direction of travel cannot be more than 8.3%. (1.0 inch of rise for every foot of travel)
• The slope across the curb ramp cannot be more than 2.0%. (0.24 inch of rise for every foot across)

View larger-image

Construction impact