Adopt transportation infrastructure design standards that protect highway, economic and ecologic functions of the corridor through clustering of development and incorporating access management standards.
Access management is the planning, design and implementation of land use and transportation strategies in an effort to maintain a safe flow of traffic while accommodating the access needs of adjacent development. See also MnDOT's new Corridor Investment Management Strategy that brings MnDOT together with its local, modal, and state partners to identify opportunities for collaborative and innovative investment.
Lakeland Shores, MN, for example, uses 3 serial roundabouts along a highway-oriented commercial district.
The MN Dept. of Natural Resources' Roadsides for Wildlife Program provides many resources to help community stewards plant native prairie wildflowers and grass seed along rural roads.
The walkable multi-way boulevard is a road design technique for reconfiguring strip mall parking to keep in front, typically in more urban settings.
The Minnesota organization Strong Towns urges design distinctions among highways (roads), streets and county/park roads. A road is an efficient connection between two populated places: high speed and safe (due to limited access). It is a replacement for the railroad: a road on rails. In contrast, streets maximize the value of the adjacent development pattern in neighborhoods (commercial, residential) and are slow and share space with other modes of transport. Country or park roads are narrow and/or gravel and cheaper to maintain. A STROAD is an expensive street/road hybrid to be avoided: travel at 30-50 MPH does not move cars efficiently, is less safe, and can actually diminish adjacent property values: in town, drivers move too fast to stop and shop, out of town cars move too slow and drivers find alternative routes.
Adopt an access management overlay district or access management standards for highways coming into the city.
Achieve 1 Star rating AND define highway commercial zoning districts in clusters rather than continuous strips.
Include conservation buffer requirements and site residential areas and vulnerable populations more than 650 feet from a major road (average annual daily traffic count over 40,000).
Implementation details: Burnsville adopted the North Gateway Design Standards to guide development along highway corridors that serve as the gateway to Burnsville. Redevelopment guidelines were also developed for the area of the city located south of the Minnesota River, east of the City of Savage border, west of I-35W and north of Highway 13.
Burnsville also underwent a study of Highway Corridor 13 to analyze future traffic in this area.
Burnsville's Gateway District classification was developed and incorporated into the 2000 Comprehensive Plan and the corresponding Gateway District Overlay zone was established. Development within this classification is subject to the "Burnsville North Gateway Design Guidlines" manual that can be found the Burnsville Website at www.burnsville.org. The classification applies to lands located noth of Highway 13 and along both sides of Interstate 35W which is the northern gateway entrance to the city. The purpose of the Gateway District is to reflect there is a steadfast and ongoing commitment to the tranformation from intense land altering industrial activity to future land uses and activities that thrive in sustainable relationships with restored natural resources systems. The deisgn standards outlined in the BUrnsville North Gateway District Design Guidelines provide site design, architectural building treatments, landscaping and storm water treatment and are intended to provide a framework for evaluating projects to ensure that they contribute to a positive image for the District as land redevelops over time.
The Minnesota River Quadrant (MRQ) is a special district that was added in the 2030 Comrehensive Plan Update Land Use Guide Plan. This classification has been created to reflect the unique, long-term redevelopment vision for the area of the city located south of the Minnesota River, east of the City of Savage border, west of I-35W and north of Highway 13. The land use plan provides goals, policies and objectives for the area. The plan was developed to promote the redevelopment of the MRQ in the following ways: (1) To utilize the MRQ Concept Development Plan as a tool to guide redevelopment activities, reclaim the river front, improve public access and enjoyment of natural areas, support business and employment expansion, improve transportation and circulation withing MRQ and to link other areas of Burnsville. (2) Encourage development of..... energy efficient operations with the MRQ. (3) Continue to partner with property owners to develop the MRQ as a regional recreation and employment center for Burnsville and the south metro.
Outcome measures/metrics: The attachment includes the following:
(1)Highway 13 Corridor Study
(2) MRQ and North Gateway Future Land Use Guide Plan (highlighted areas)
(3) North Gateway Design Standards
Implementation details: City policies that have been in place since the early 1990s created a destination-oriented Downtown commercial center with the core being the intersection of County Road 42 and Cedar Avenue. The city has focused commercial development in this area, with supporting neighborhood commercial developments in other defined areas. Typical highway commercial development is discouraged. The City participated with Dakota County and other stakeholders in a multi-year effort to implement bus rapid transit (BRT) along the Cedar Avenue corridor. The combined transit and highway improvement process involved context-sensitive design principals.
Implementation details: Cottage Grove abides by the MnDOT access management guidlines on trunk highway 61 corridor. The City is also currently working on an agreement with Washington County on an access management map to identify all access points to county roadways. Utilizing the Comprehensive Plan and East Ravine Study as an underlying guidance along with county policy on access management.
Implementation details: Stormwater management systems (ponds, swales, infiltration basins, etc) are constructed along highway corridors. Tree buffers are preserved where possible and land disturbance during construction is minimized.
Hwy 61 had an access mgmt study through MNDOT - The study encourages higher density development. One of the central elements of the city's comprehensive plan focuses new development in already existing activity centers. (http://www.red-wing.org/comprehensiveplan.html)
We have adopted a complete streets policy that ensures all users of road corridors (vehicles, bikers, pedestrians, transit, etc.) are considered during the design process. The city makes every effort to listen to the stakeholders and interested citizens to develop projects that are safe, feasible and meet the needs of the public.
Implementation details: a. Improve the ecologic functions of land adjacent to highway corridors.
Subdivision 1. Purpose and Intent. The City of Rochester finds that trees and especially shade trees along streets provide numerous community benefits including:
1. Economic stability through enhanced property values, improved property marketability, and as a component of city infrastructure;
2. Energy savings by reducing the urban heat island impacts, and reduced building heating and cooling costs;
3. Health benefits through an increased sense of community, mental comfort, traffic safety, traffic calming, and support of a walkable community;
4. Aesthetic values for residential and commercial areas;
5. The amelioration of noise and glare;
6. Air pollution reduction through removal of atmospheric chemicals including greenhouse gases and particulate matter; and
7. Protection of water quality and enhancing stormwater control.
For more information contact: John Bradford (City staff) | jbradford@hopkinsmn.com | 952-548-6356
Implementation details: The City will continue to participate in the Highway 49 Taskforce and to encourage Ramsey County to construct improvements that integrate needed vehicular capacity, safety, and pedestrian and bicycle friendly design features.
Shoreview has some residential neighborhoods along the arterials. The coexistence of a heavily traveled road next to low intensity residential land uses needs to be considered in the overall design of these corridors as the roadways are improved to ensure the long term viability of these land uses. In those instances where these low intensity uses may not make sense in the long term, roadway design should consider transitional or higher intensity uses.
Expansion of the trail network can improve connections to the regional trail system, public facilities, commercial nodes, transit facilities, and neighborhoods. The City will evaluate development proposals and require trail and walkways improvements as deemed necessary to expand the network. Highway 96 is an example of context sensitive design.
Improved flow of highway traffic, lowered risk of accidents.
Long-term reduction in vehicle miles traveled due to more compact development.
Less leap-frog development, lowering costs of extending and maintaining infrastructure.
More synergy for clustered retail businesses.
More development pressure for infill sites.
Higher quality, more aesthetic development that is sensitive to its context (rural, suburban, town center/urban core) and thus retains its property value.
Optional for all cities
All Category A, B and C cities that choose to implement this best practice must complete at least one action.
summary
Highway-oriented commercial development is a common land use pattern. In many Minnesota towns a highway transects three distinct contexts: rural, "sub-urban," and the town center, or urban core. The sub-urban or 'at the edge of town' area is the most challenging context and is the focus of this best practice. Typical highway commercial development is appropriately oriented towards automobile traffic, but often lacks visual appeal, creates a linear development pattern rather than clusters, and reduces highway functionality by creating problem intersections. Highway development also is typically lower density, consuming development acres less efficiently and yielding lower property tax revenues per acre. This style of development fragments habitat and imposes higher infrastructure maintenance costs onto cites. As gateways into - and the places that visitors get their first impressions of - communities, highway commercial development can be made more context-sensitive, attractive, ecological, efficient and even bikable/walkable.
5. Avoid strip development. Promote commercial nodes. Commercial development can be located adjacent to and visible from the highway, but should be accessed via a system of parallel local roads and side streets that complement the state highway system requirements.
The MN Dept. of Transportation has developed mobility performance targets for interregional corridors, which comprise 2,960 miles of highways that represent 2% of all roadway miles in the state and that account for 33% of all vehicle miles traveled in the state.
no. 9 
Best Practice Action 3
