11-17-2003 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Road Advisory Minutes--November 17, 2003 2 Mr. Griffin said he believes the committee is saying more time is needed to evaluate priorities, and that committee members would be more comfortable with Mr. Berndt and his staff making further recommendations for this board to evaluate. He encouraged committee members to look at the projects that have been screened out, to determine if any should be reconsidered. Mr. Meyer suggested committee members complete the first three pages of the survey, leaving page 4 for county staff to complete and bring back to the committee. He said the 10 mill road levy needs to be discussed at some point in the near future. Mr. Wagner requested one additional week to complete the prioritization of projects and submit the survey to the county engineer. Mr. Berndt and Mr. Griffin were in agreement, saying this is a pilot project, with Cass County being one of two counties nationwide participating in this survey. Mr. Griffin said they are pleased with how the process is evolving and appreciate the committee's input. COUNTY HIGHWAY 16, Pavement rec~uest Darrol Schroeder and several other citizens were present requesting consideration for paving 7.8 miles of Cass County Highway 16 west of the City of Davenport to State Highway 18 for safety reasons. Mr. Schroeder said several accidents have occurred on this gravel road due to its washboard effect and loose gravel. About two miles of the road has dangerous ditches and it is nearly impassible when wet, according to Mr. Schroeder. He said numerous letters of support have been received from businesses in the area, two school districts, township officials, churches, emergency fire and rescue departments. According to the citizens, this road is a major east/west route between State Highway 46 and Interstate 94 and is heavily used by traffic commuting to Fargo. If this project were approved, Mr. Johnson asked if the entire road would need to be reconstructed, and Mr. Berndt said the whole road would need some amount of reshaping. Mr. Schroeder said the most work is needed on the center three miles. It is a question of dollars, according to Mr. Wagner, who said doing one project may mean taking away from another project or raising taxes in order to pay for it. Board members talked about traffic counts; however, Mr. Schroeder said that number may not be accurate because some people do not drive on the road because of its poor condition. Mr. Berndt said the F-M Metropolitan Council of Governments (COG) set up a traffic counter after this road was discussed at a previous road advisory committee meeting, and it was registering 78 vehicles per day. However, COG discovered the equipment was not working properly, and Mr. Berndt said a more accurate count would be 100 vehicles per day, which was the result of a 1994 traffic count. Even if that amount doubled to 200 vehicles per day since 1994, Mr. Berndt said paved roads in Cass County generally have a traffic count of 300-600 vehicles per day. On behalf of the citizens, Mr. Schroeder thanked the committee for hearing their request and asked them to give it further consideration.