BLAINE, Minn. – (Sept. 4, 2015) – Understanding exactly what your city government does can be difficult. And one of the more complicated issues is understanding exactly how roads work. Who decides when roads are fixed? Why does a stoplight seem so short? Or, why isn’t there a stop sign at an intersection? The answers to these questions aren’t always easy, Blaine City Manager Clark Arneson attempts to answer these frequently asked questions.
“Many times, we’ll get calls, asking ‘city why can’t you plow when you’re on a county road?’ Well, if there was an urgency to the situation, then we would, but we have our own responsibilities to get to our own roads, county is the same way, MnDOT is the same way and so forth.”
Snow plowing is one instance when many people ask about roads. The answer to this, and most other road questions can start with road ownership.
“In the City of Blaine or any other city in Minnesota, there are multiple jurisdictions that are in charge of roads, so, you have your federal highway system which would be Highway 10 and 35 under federal jurisdiction, federal funding takes care of that, although it’s maintained by MnDOT so there’s a maintenance agreement there. You then have the state highways which is Highway 65, MnDot has complete jurisdiction over that with maintenance, reconstruction, signal timing, signal location, turn lanes, whatever it is.”
But the road ownership doesn't stop there. The levels just keep on going.
“The next tier would be county roads. Lexington Avenue, 109th, University Avenue, Main Street, and Radisson are the majority of the larger county roads. The county maintains them, will pay for reconstructs usually with some of our involvement. University is going on right now. Next year, Main Street from Highway 65 to Harper Street will be under construction and that’s a giant project with the county and the city and there are some federal dollars involved with that too. So the county is the next level, and then you have the city streets after that. So, if you’re on 105th or 121st or whatever it is, those are under city’s jurisdiction. There is one more level and there are some private roads out there. If you see a brown sign in a townhouse development, there is a pretty good chance that’s a private road, so that road is actually owned and maintained by a townhouse association.”
Highway 65 is owned by the state. 109th Avenue is owned by the county. 105th Avenue is owned by the City of Blaine. So, these intersections, and others like them up and down Highway 65 can get a little complicated.
“The challenge with Highway 65 is a MnDOT state jurisdiction, 105th now is under city jurisdiction with 109th being the county. But at the end of the day the issue is signal timing north and south on Highway 65. MnDOT controls that and their interest is to move traffic north and south through Blaine on Highway 65 during the a.m. and p.m. peak and their other interest is to safely move traffic across 105th or 109th but not quickly.”
Crossing Highway 65 has become very slow. Turning on or off of Highway 65 can be even worse.
“I think everyone has had their own experience. If the person at the head of the platoon is texting, you’re getting three cars through the signal timing, or four, maybe five if the last one wants to push it a little bit.”
MnDOT says there's a reason that some of the lights have to be so brief.
“The problem is the signal timing on Highway 65 is maxed out. MnDOT has done signal timing studies. I believe they are interconnected from East Bethel to Columbia Heights, so if you catch the right platoon and drive the speed limit you should be able to catch the lights there during the a.m. and p.m. peak. But, what that means east and west is that there is no more time that they can give to move Blaine or other people across 65.”
Now, a new plan is emerging, as local leaders are joining together to develop solutions to stop some of the Highway 65 headaches.
“There is an effort to reorganize a Highway 65 corridor coalition to begin working on additional funding for Highway 65. What needs to happen at 109th is an overpass or an interchange similar to Main Street. And there are no dollars for that and there are no dollars for Highway 65 in the 25 year MnDOT plan. So we need to begin working to make the case for the dollars and then try to find the dollars for construction.”
Clark says that they hope to use Highway 10 as an example. A new interchange is going in at Armstrong Boulevard in Ramsey, and once it's done it should speed up commute times, reduce crashes, and create options for pedestrians and bicyclists. Highway 10 has been seeking funding for many years, and has started to get funds for improvements for small sections of the roadway.
“So, we’re going to try to take that same approach with Highway 65 and take it one piece at a time cause there aren’t big dollars out there.”
And while they attempt to make some headway on the problems on Highway 65, there are undoubtedly problems with other roads as well. And when you come across problems, Clark encourages you to look at what road it is, and direct your issue to the proper governmental body.
“They’re all signed differently so you can understand who owns, who maintains, or who is responsible for that road and I guess start paying attention to the signage. Anoka County has a distinctive signing system, federal does, state does, and we do as well. So, it’s that jurisdiction that has responsibility so if there is a stop light out or you don’t think the turning movement is correct or whatever it is, try to figure out whose road it is and then make the phone call.”
