Sherburne County Online Meeting

Welcome

Welcome to our virtual open house – we thank you for your participation.

Today you will learn more about the proposed County Highway 43 improvements that will improve safety and traffic flow from Highway 10 to the Elk River Bridge in Big Lake, Minnesota.

About this Virtual Open House

The entire session should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Continue clicking through to learn more about the project and the proposed improvements. Use the navigation bar on the left side of the screen by clicking on the text to advance to the next slide or use the arrows along the bottom of the screen to go back and forth between slides.

Project Area Issues

Sherburne County is developing a preliminary design to improve safety, capacity, and operations along County Highway 43 from Highway 10 to the Elk River Bridge in Big Lake. This area provides access to area schools, police, fire, commercial, retail businesses and residential housing in the City of Big Lake.

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a map of the project area in Sherburne County, It goes along Highway 43 from Jeffereson Blvd northward with a roundabout at 205th ave NW.

This stretch of County Highway 43 has safety, capacity, and operations issues that need to be addressed to keep the community moving into the future. Several key issues have been identified in this area, including:

Inefficient intersection operations at County Highway 43 and Highway 10 that are further constrained by the close proximity of Rose Dr. Delays are expected to increase as traffic grows in the area and future development occurs
Increase in traffic at the County Highway 43/Glenwood Ave./205th Ave. intersection during peak drop off and pick-up at area Big Lake schools
More traffic in the area related to growth and future development east of Minnesota Ave.
Inconsistent pedestrian and bicycle connections to the local schools

Proposed Improvements

This 1-mile stretch of County Highway 43 is anticipated to be fully reconstructed in 2022. At the same time, the county wants to improve traffic flow and increase safety for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

Proposed Improvements

Fully reconstruct approximately 1 mile of highway
Add a right turn lane from southbound County Highway 43 to westbound Highway 10
Improve traffic flow by adding a raised median from Highway 10 to Minnesota Ave and changing access to/from Martin Ave and County Highway 43
Design this stretch of County Highway 43 for future development east of Minnesota Ave.
Add sidewalk on the east side of County Highway 43 for pedestrians
Construct a mini roundabout at the County Highway 43/Glenwood Ave./205th Ave. intersection to help with intersection operations
The City will be using the reconstruction project to extend watermain and sanitary sewer service from Glenwood Ave/205th Ave south to Minnesota Ave.
Click to the next slide to see the initial design concept!

Project Schedule

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Initial Design Concept

View the improvements along County Highway 43 between Highway 10 and the Elk River Bridge. See below for some of the proposed changes along this stretch of highway or open a detailed PDF of the layout.

Click Image to Enlarge

Mini Roundabouts

Mini roundabouts are most often used on urban and suburban roads, similar to County Highway 43. They are smaller than traditional roundabouts and are designed so the center island has a slight lip to it to direct passenger vehicles to drive around the island. The lip, however, is low enough to allow larger trucks and school buses to safely drive over it when extra space is needed to make turns. Standard medians will also run through the middle of the road to divide the highway between intersections, same as a standard roundabout.

Benefits of a mini roundabout

Smaller radius reduces the cost and construction impacts compared to a traditional roundabout
Provides the shortest delay during school pick-up and drop-off times
Effectively slows speeds
No lost wait times (i.e. vehicles don’t need to wait for a green light)
Substantially shortens pedestrian crossing distances when compared to typical multi-lane intersections
Crash severities are typically very low

How does a mini roundabout compare to a traffic signal?

A mini roundabout supports a constant and efficient traffic flow, while a traffic signal may increase the delay that County Highway 43 and connected side streets experience today, especially if they hit a red light. Additionally, traffic signals do not reduce crashes or slow traffic.

Example mini roundabout

Check out the before and after pictures of a mini roundabout in Shakopee to see what this could potentially look like in this area.

Drag the arrows below left and right to see before and after pictures of a mini roundabout in Shakopee to see what this could potentially look like in this area.

Shakopee/Scott County CR 79 (Spencer Street) and Vireling Drive before: a 4-way intersection

Shakopee/Scott County CR 79 (Spencer Street) and Vireling Drive: a four way roundabout

Stay Connected

Thank you for your interest in the County Highway 43 Improvements Project.

Share

It’s important for the community to better understand the design concepts currently being considered for County Highway 43 in Big Lake. Please pass along the link to this virtual open house to family, friends, and coworkers that use this stretch of County Highway 43.