City of Roseville Traffic Concerns

Submitted by Roger Toogood, Chair, Roseville Citizens League

1.      County Road B2 (CSAH 78)/Fairview Avenue (CSAH 48)- right-turn lane for eastbound CR B2. Partial funding is in place to reconfigure this intersection, the County Road B2/Snelling Avenue west ramp intersection, and rebuild County Road B2 between the intersections in 2011.  Plans are very preliminary. 

A major issue with this project is that the space needed to add the necessary turn lanes may unacceptably affect the Wells Fargo Bank in the northeast quadrant of Fairview and County Road B2 and the BP gas station in the northwest quadrant.  The City of Roseville met with Ramsey County on October 29th to discuss this project and how its impact on these businesses can be mitigated.  At this meeting, the City and County agreed to have the consulting firm of SEH, Inc. model traffic operations at the intersection to see if it would function acceptably without right-turn lanes for westbound County Road B2 and southbound Fairview Avenue.  After this work is done, the City and County will again meet to determine if this is a viable option.

2.      County Road C (CSAH 23)/Rice Street (CSAH 49)- right-turn lane for eastbound County Road C. Rice Street, from County Road B2 to Little Canada Road, including this intersection, is scheduled to be rebuilt in 2012.  This schedule is tentative and the work may not be completed until later.  The schedule is somewhat dependant on the completion of the Trunk Highway 36/Rice Street interchange and that segment of Rice Street between County Road B and County Road B2.  The final intersection design will be a cooperative effort between the Cities of Roseville and Little Canada and Ramsey County.  The planned reconstruction of the Walgreen’s store in the southwest quadrant of the intersection may present an opportunity to acquire the necessary right of way.

3.      Rice Street (CSAH 49)/County Road C2/Market Place- left-turn lane for northbound Rice Street.  Field observations noted very low numbers of left turns at this location, though formal turning movement counts have not been completed.  MN/DOT crash data indicates one crash, of unknown type, at this location in the past three years.  No work is planned at this location, so any access modifications would need to be undertaken as a stand-alone project.  Unless conditions change, this would have a very low priority for Ramsey County.

4.      Rice Street (CSAH 49)/US Bank driveway (north of Little Canada Road)- eliminate left turns into bank.  A field observation noted a very small number of left turns into the site, though bank customers coming from the north to use the bank’s drive-through services have no practical alternative to enter the site.  The MN/DOT crash database indicates no crashes at this location in the past three years.  As with the nearby intersection of County Road C2 and Market Place, no work is planned at this location and its priority as a stand-alone project is very low for Ramsey County.

5.      County Road B2 (CSAH 78)/Hamline Avenue (CSAH 50)- eastbound left-turn lane.  Adding a left-turn lane at this location may be feasible, but should not be considered without evaluating the results of peak-hour turning movement counts and the geometrics of the intersection.  These counts will be taken and an engineering study performed.  In addition to modifications to pavement marking and signage, changes to the traffic signal may be needed.  If it is necessary to modify the traffic signal, a rough estimate of the cost of this work is $15,000-$30,000.  Ramsey County could program this as an improvement.  If no signal modifications are necessary, and if the engineering study recommends converting a through lane into a turn lane, this could be done by modifying the striping and signage in 2010.

6.      Hamline Avenue (CSAH 50)/County Road B2 (CSAH 78)- right-turn lane for southbound Hamline Avenue.  Construction of a right-turn lane in this location would require extensive utility relocation and modification of the traffic signal, trail, and storm sewer system to accommodate the added roadway width. 

7.      Hamline Avenue (CSAH 50)/County Road B2 (CSAH 78)- right-turn lane for northbound Hamline Avenue.  Adding a right-turn lane at this location would require acquisition of right of way from the home in the southeast quadrant of the intersection to accommodate the added roadway width.  In addition to extensive modification of the traffic signal the removal of several large trees would be necessary.  The combined cost of adding northbound and southbound right-turn lanes at this intersection would essentially require a complete reconstruction of the intersection, with a cost likely exceeding $1 Million, plus right of way acquisition costs.  The MN/DOT crash database indicates that there have been six crashes at the Hamline Avenue/County Road B2 intersection in the past three years, with three involving left turns, one a sideswipe with both vehicles traveling the same direction (with one likely attempting a left turn), one right-angle crash, and one unknown crash.

8.      County Road C (CSAH 23)/Snelling Avenue (TH 51)- right-turn lane on westbound County Road C.  This intersection was rebuilt in 2006 and no work is planned in the foreseeable future. 

9.      County Road B2 (CSAH 78)/Lexington Avenue (CSAH 51)- eastbound left-turn lane signage is confusing.  This intersection was re-striped to delineate eastbound and westbound right-turn lanes the week of October 19th; signs were installed October 26th.

10.   Lydia Avenue/Snelling Avenue (TH 51)-  improve and expand southbound right-turn lane.  This intersection is not under County jurisdiction but MN/DOT’s  2009 project included turn lane improvements.

11.   Lydia Avenue/Snelling Avenue (TH 51)- right-turn lane for westbound Lydia.  This intersection is not under County jurisdiction.  Work done in 2009 did not add a dedicated right-turn lane for this movement.

12.   County Road C2/Snelling Avenue (TH 51)- right-turn land for eastbound County Road C2- not under County jurisdiction.  This intersection involves a State highway (Snelling Avenue; Trunk Highway 51) and despite its name, a Roseville City Street, so Ramsey County respectfully defers to the City and State on any issues relating to it.

13.   Hamline Avenue (CSAH 50)/Snelling Avenue (TH 51)- change stop sign to yield and add a merge lane for northbound traffic.  While MN/DOT would have the authority to determine the proper configuration of access to its system, we would not recommend this change.  Also, given that Snelling Avenue was repaved in the summer of 2009, the opportunity to make the change as part of that project was lost.

14.   Lexington Avenue (CSAH 51)/Woodhill Drive- add merge signage.  Woodhill Drive tapers to a single lane a short distance east of Lexington Avenue.  If the Roseville City Engineer determines that additional signage is needed, Ramsey County would support her decision.  Depending on traffic patterns, it may be desirable to add an eastbound right-turn lane at this location.

15.   Lexington Avenue (CSAH 51)/County Road B (CSAH 25)-  It was not clear what issues were of concern at this intersection.  Left and right-turn lanes are in place on all approaches.  It was surmised that there are concerns about the close proximity of some accesses to the intersection.  These could be addressed if the properties near the intersection are re-developed or if the roadways are rebuilt.  No road construction is planned for this intersection in the foreseeable future.

16.   Snelling Avenue (TH 51)/Hoyt Avenue- It appears that concerns about the operation of this intersection are related to the traffic-actuated signal system that sometimes will stop Snelling Avenue traffic for a single vehicle on Hoyt Avenue.  It is our understanding of the timing of the traffic signal that this may occur in rare instances where Snelling Avenue has been green for its maximum time and Hoyt has had a red signal while Snelling has “maxed out”.

17.   Lexington Avenue (CSAH 51/Larpenteur Avenue (CSAH 30) (not on Roger’s list- added by County)- add right turn lane for southbound traffic.  A dedicated southbound right-turn lane was added to eliminate the pinch point south of intersection.