BLAINE, Minn. – (Oct. 26, 2018) – At the Oct. 18 council meeting, the city approved a new large development. Hy-Vee will be coming to Blaine, near University Avenue on Main Street.
“Building will start next spring,” said Blaine’s Economic Development Coordinator, Erik Thorvig.
Like many Hy-Vee developments, it will be more than just a grocery story. The 40-acre site could include an additional commercial development and a senior apartment building.
“The traffic on that street right now is about six hundred cars per day,” said Blaine City Engineer Dan Schluender. “The projections from the traffic studies are showing the traffic will go to about three thousand cars per day.”
Many residents spoke and sent letters in opposition to this plan, but city officials say this road linkage was always part of the design, since before the Crescent Ponds development was built.
“The street was always planned to move forward. It’s been in the plan for the last twenty years.”
To help with the traffic increase, city staff will be working with the Traffic Commission.
Ideas they are already considering include:
- Lowering the speed limit in a school zone
- Reducing street parking options in the area
- Adding a center stripe to the road
- Adding sidewalks to the east side on 121st Avenue
- Adding a number of stop signs in the area
Other traffic changes in the area due to this development will include turn lane extensions, and potentially bus-only access to Roosevelt Middle School. Roosevelt will also have to redirect where parents pick up their children after school, because once this road opens, they will no longer be able to line up on Jefferson Street.
