[0:00] Okay, we'll get started. But we're here

[0:02] for the Vernon Avenue Highway 100

[0:03] interchange project. This is update

[0:05] meeting number 10, August 7th, 2025.

[0:10] Again, thanks for the patience. Uh

[0:12] businesses, again, a reminder, they're

[0:14] open and accessible. There's routes to

[0:16] get to them. We have all the

[0:18] construction related stuff, noise, dust,

[0:19] vibrations.

[0:21] Uh please stop for those pedestrians in

[0:23] the crosswalks. Be courteous to fellow

[0:25] drivers in the roundabouts. Truck is

[0:28] heavy. Uh so please take your time and

[0:31] again if you're not comfortable using

[0:33] that midblock crossing Eden we would

[0:35] recommend using the crosswalk at Vernon

[0:37] in Eden instead of the fully signaled uh

[0:42] intersection there of the crosswalk.

[0:46] Yeah, we always share the project goals.

[0:49] Uh we're here to improve safety and

[0:50] mobility of all users, improve traffic

[0:53] operations, create those pedestrian

[0:55] separated pedestrian routes, and improve

[0:58] connectivity in the area. Uh we'll talk

[1:00] a little bit about schedule here uh as

[1:03] we go through the presentation today.

[1:06] And this is the project starts west of

[1:08] Interlockan Boulevard. We have the

[1:10] Vernon Avenue bridge over CP Rail,

[1:13] Casey, CP Casey Rail, and then we have

[1:16] the bridge over Highway 100. This is the

[1:18] project and the interchange at 100 is

[1:21] called a tight diamond interchange.

[1:25] Lots of ways to communicate. We have

[1:27] this bi-weekly meeting every other week

[1:31] 11 a.m. Thursdays. We have a better

[1:33] together website betterto

[1:35] togetherdina.org/veron-hwy00.

[1:42] We also been doing press releases,

[1:43] Friday reports, email updates. Uh people

[1:46] were signing up for those when the

[1:47] project started. Direct mailers, lots

[1:50] and lots of different ways to

[1:51] communicate with both people in the

[1:54] area, traveling in the area, businesses,

[1:56] and a lot of information posted to the

[1:58] website. So if you're looking for more

[1:59] info, check out the website. If you

[2:02] haven't signed up for emails, do we also

[2:07] some specific details of where the

[2:09] project is at this point. So, if we

[2:11] start at the Vernon interlocking

[2:13] intersection, uh that is and continues

[2:16] to be free flowing. There's no signal

[2:18] there today. Uh Gus Young is still

[2:21] closed by Dina Liquor Store. Most of the

[2:24] work is complete or will be complete

[2:26] this week, next week. Then they'll be

[2:28] shifting traffic back to the west

[2:32] here, the corner, kind of what I have

[2:33] drawn here. and they'll continue to be

[2:36] free flowing there as long as they need

[2:38] it to complete the rest of the work to

[2:41] the east of this intersection.

[2:44] So, look for some slight changes there

[2:46] as they wrap up this work in the next

[2:47] week or so.

[2:50] Uh the power line, we've talked about

[2:52] this for at least 6 weeks, I believe.

[2:55] So, the Excel power line is horizontally

[2:57] and vertically different in the field

[2:59] than what we thought. Uh it was shown on

[3:02] the plans. It was struck and repaired.

[3:05] There's no agreements. Uh both parties

[3:07] are working on permits and agreements.

[3:09] There has been no

[3:12] construction movement on this. So what

[3:14] you see in the picture is still today.

[3:16] Uh that concrete is from the old bridge.

[3:20] Uh I'm having major concerns, major

[3:23] impacts to schedule and cost are coming

[3:25] and we don't even know what that is yet

[3:27] until we can actually get Excel and CP

[3:29] to get a permit to move this stuff

[3:32] around. So,

[3:34] uh, I'm very concerned on how this is

[3:37] going to impact the entire project cuz

[3:39] this has been 3 months and it's still

[3:41] sitting in the same spot.

[3:44] Um, and neither agency was willing to do

[3:46] any kind of temporary moves and stuff

[3:47] like that. So, more to come on this when

[3:50] we actually know

[3:52] when the permits will be done, when the

[3:54] contractor could potentially assist with

[3:56] some of the work. Once we know that,

[4:00] then we can actually put together some

[4:02] contractor could put together some

[4:03] schedules and some potential cost

[4:07] implications to the project.

[4:11] Uh last week on Monday, July 28th, the

[4:14] northbound on-ramp from 50th Street was

[4:17] closed. It's closed until the fall so

[4:20] they can build the ramp, realignment of

[4:22] the ramps and the noise wall from

[4:24] Minihana Creek up to 50th. And again,

[4:26] there's GIS mapping. There's a link

[4:28] there that shows the different mapping

[4:31] for the detours. One is along Highway

[4:34] 100. You would exit on eastbound 62 and

[4:37] then stay and exit right away again to

[4:40] northbound 100. The other detour is the

[4:42] local frontage roads on each side of 100

[4:44] down to Benton Heaven.

[4:48] So, we know Benton Avenue shown here is

[4:51] experiencing more traffic. There's more

[4:53] delays at that location. We have been

[4:56] working with MDOT. They did ret time the

[4:58] on-ramp signals for that northbound

[5:00] exit. We'll continue to look at that,

[5:03] work with MDOT, but just know that

[5:06] Benton Avenue is has had a big increase

[5:09] in traffic and it's going to get worse.

[5:12] School starts August 25th. So, we got

[5:15] the Dina schools right at this location

[5:16] and we have OG on Eden and Arcadia area.

[5:20] So, in a couple weeks, we're going to

[5:22] have all the school traffic back at both

[5:24] these locations.

[5:27] What's coming up? Uh, at some point, we

[5:29] need to do the stage 3A part two, which

[5:32] is the westbound ramps or the southbound

[5:36] off-ramps.

[5:37] Sometime in September. We don't have a

[5:39] hard date yet. Um, sometimes in

[5:42] September, that is going to close. And

[5:44] then we also need to do stage 3B, which

[5:47] is the northbound

[5:51] exit to Graange. They have to build that

[5:54] ramp there, too. So, that one will need

[5:56] to change. So, we have two ramp closures

[5:59] still to conduct sometime in September

[6:03] when we know those dates. We'll be

[6:04] sharing those out. Um, so Benton Avenue

[6:07] will get worse with those closures also.

[6:09] So, it is going to get

[6:12] worse before it gets better from a

[6:14] traffic standpoint within this area.

[6:17] Uh some cool things, the bridge is going

[6:19] to start to really take shape for the

[6:21] first week of September. If everything

[6:23] goes according to schedule, the gerters

[6:25] are going to show up overnights.

[6:27] Uh two nights for northbound, two nights

[6:30] for southbound, placing those girders uh

[6:33] over the highway. So that's really going

[6:35] to start to take shape that Highway 100

[6:36] bridge is moving forward very nicely.

[6:42] Another thing that's going to start to

[6:43] impact stuff is the 5100 Even Eden

[6:46] Avenue. It was a development project

[6:48] approved by the city council. They are

[6:51] going to start work uh some temporary

[6:53] work starting August 18th. So, as shown

[6:56] in this graphic, uh they're going to

[6:58] build a temporary sidewalk along the

[7:01] west side of Arcadia Avenue from just

[7:04] north of the roundabout at Arcadia and

[7:06] Eden up to the crosswalk

[7:09] near the Vernon shops. During this work,

[7:12] the parking will be removed along the

[7:14] west side and they'll have flaggers out

[7:16] there. Once that work is complete, the

[7:18] parking will be reestablished. Also

[7:21] during that week, they'll install jersey

[7:22] barriers and fencing around their

[7:25] property uh as they get ready to start

[7:28] doing demo and grading operations for

[7:30] their project. Then that blue dash line

[7:33] is the sidewalk detour. So, there'll be

[7:35] signs placed uh over at the roundabout

[7:38] at Graange to use that crosswalk and use

[7:42] the south sidewalk along Eden Avenue

[7:46] around the Eden Arcadia roundabout and

[7:48] then use this new west temporary

[7:51] sidewalk up the west side of Arcadia

[7:54] where there is no sidewalk today. So,

[7:56] they're building that. They need to

[7:58] close the sidewalk adjacent to that

[8:00] parcel on both Eden and Arcadia so they

[8:03] can safely work on that parcel.

[8:08] And then some pictures. Uh we always go

[8:10] through some pictures and provide some

[8:11] updates. Uh this picture is again

[8:13] looking at the Vonnies on the right hand

[8:16] side from various weeks of construction.

[8:18] And the one on the right is what it

[8:19] looks like today. So that bridge

[8:23] foundation and bridge support is is

[8:25] coming along very very nicely there on

[8:28] the east side of the CPKC rail with the

[8:31] B bridge.

[8:34] Uh this is the intersection. The one on

[8:35] the left was from two weeks ago where

[8:37] they were still doing utility work.

[8:39] Photo on the right is what it looks like

[8:41] today. So they have curb and gutter in.

[8:43] They're pouring sidewalks. You can see

[8:45] the signal base is in and then they'll

[8:47] be paving next week and then shifting

[8:50] this traffic back over to that side in

[8:53] that intersection like I discussed

[8:55] earlier.

[8:58] Uh the area in front of the Dino liquor

[9:01] store is complete. So this is a picture

[9:02] of that and we got the bike racks

[9:04] installed uh in this photo on the left.

[9:08] Then on the right is a photo looking

[9:10] west. That's Washurn McCree funeral

[9:14] chapel in the background. And this is

[9:16] the east side of the high 100 bridge. So

[9:19] just seeing some of the work taking

[9:21] shape there on the east side of Highway

[9:23] 100.

[9:26] This is near Hawthorne Court, Hawthorne

[9:28] Apartments. The one on the left was a

[9:30] photo from a couple weeks ago. And the

[9:31] one on the right is from this morning as

[9:33] they continue to pour that retaining

[9:36] wall before the noise wall gets

[9:38] installed on top of that retaining wall.

[9:44] This is looking east towards city hall.

[9:48] You can see the green traffic signals in

[9:50] the background. Photo on the upper left

[9:52] was from four weeks ago. Bottom left was

[9:56] from two weeks ago. And the bigger photo

[9:59] on the right is from this morning

[10:01] showing all the bridge supports

[10:03] foundation work that's happened as they

[10:05] get ready for those gvers here in a few

[10:07] weeks of that first early September.

[10:12] Then a couple zoomed in more give you

[10:15] some scale of the bridge and the work

[10:17] these guys are doing. So both left and

[10:20] right are both on the Highway 100

[10:22] bridge. I think they're both on the west

[10:24] side of Highway 100, but just giving you

[10:26] an idea of the work they're doing, the

[10:29] scale there.

[10:32] And the again are renderings of the

[10:33] finished bridge at 100. Left photo is

[10:37] showing those wide sidewalks, new

[10:39] traffic signals, and new turn lanes. One

[10:43] on the right is the rendering of the

[10:46] bridge from Highway 100 heading

[10:47] northbound. And you're seeing all those

[10:49] supports are nearly complete. And those

[10:52] girders will be coming in just a few

[10:54] weeks as this thing really starts to

[10:55] take shape. Uh so we do this meeting in

[10:58] two every two weeks. In two weeks Derek

[11:01] Houston, our rep with TKDA is going to

[11:04] be hosting this meeting and sharing

[11:05] additional information as I will be out

[11:07] at the office. So for Derek to host the

[11:11] next meeting here in two weeks.

[11:14] So I'll stop sharing and see there's any

[11:17] questions

[11:19] in the chat. Any

[11:26] questions

[11:31] for people to type in questions?

[11:34] Diana staff

[11:36] unmute and ask questions if you have it.

[11:40] Uh, question one, will there be new

[11:42] trees planted and if so, where and what

[11:44] kind? Um, most likely not. We took a few

[11:49] trees down that were volunteer trees.

[11:54] Most of the bridges are wider than they

[11:56] were before. So, we needed that space

[11:58] for either the bridge structures or the

[12:00] sidewalks. There was really not a lot of

[12:03] space left for trees. Other than some

[12:07] promises we made to Hawthorne apartments

[12:10] there on their on their property behind

[12:13] the new noise. So, in that area, there

[12:15] will be some trees. We look if there's

[12:18] other space, but right now it doesn't

[12:19] look like there'll be too many new trees

[12:20] just because we needed the space for

[12:22] these new facilities.

[12:26] Will mulch borders be replaced by my

[12:29] road sign?

[12:31] Uh, and Ryan, the holiday manager,

[12:35] we can meet with you and talk through

[12:38] restoration of your property as part of

[12:40] this project. So, uh, typically we want

[12:42] to put stuff back the way it was before

[12:44] we got there. So we can definitely work

[12:46] with you. We'll have Derek reach out. We

[12:49] can have a conversation.

[12:53] Brian had a question. Any more

[12:54] commentary to offer about why Rail and

[12:56] Excel don't seem to care about time,

[12:57] cost, or inconvenience?

[13:00] I have a lot of commentary, but I don't

[13:02] think it's appropriate for this meeting

[13:06] on on the lack of urgency by both

[13:08] parties. The why a great question. I

[13:10] have no idea why. We've communicated

[13:13] with them multiple times for three

[13:16] months every week. What are we doing?

[13:18] This is the major issue. Um, stuff like

[13:22] that. Uh, Mr. Crabtree, doesn't the 1968

[13:26] agreement cover? It covers an aerial

[13:28] line, not a buried line is what we got

[13:30] confirmation from those parties. So,

[13:33] buried line got hit. It technically

[13:36] wasn't covered in any agreements between

[13:38] the parties. And again, that's between

[13:40] them.

[13:43] I have a question regarding the east

[13:44] side of the new Vernon Avenue bridge

[13:47] adjacent to Devanis.

[13:50] Will there be an open gap between the

[13:52] new bridge structure and the Devan's

[13:54] building or will that space be filled

[13:56] with new concrete and other landscaping?

[13:59] Uh very detailed question Darren. I

[14:02] think we would check in with you offline

[14:05] and we can show you some plans and the

[14:07] verific

[14:13] have a conversation and help answer that

[14:15] question.

[14:17] Uh Mr. crab tree again and who's

[14:19] responsible for any cost over on the

[14:21] city, the county, the mindot. Great

[14:24] question. We don't know yet. I would add

[14:27] additional parties to that list. Excel

[14:28] and rail, but how would what's our

[14:31] ability to get those from them? That's a

[14:34] good question. So, there's cooperative

[14:36] agreements that lay out cost

[14:38] responsibilities for the Hannipan County

[14:40] Bridge, the Highway and Hinder Bridge,

[14:42] and everything in between. And so

[14:44] typically if items overrun those cost

[14:46] share agreements, operative agreements

[14:49] would dictate where those additional

[14:51] costs go. Feel like this bridge side is

[14:54] a different conversation that uh

[14:58] potentially attorneys would get involved

[15:00] in that discussion.

[15:02] I live near Hawthorne Court near the

[15:05] Atra crossing going through West 49th

[15:08] Street. It appears the recent concrete

[15:10] patching down on the street top of the

[15:12] tracks were too high. Seems like every

[15:14] time the train cut these massive scrapes

[15:16] against the grout.

[15:19] Uh we could take a look at what you're

[15:21] talking about. So it sounds like the

[15:22] crossing at 49th Street, the Buminous

[15:24] was recently repaired.

[15:26] Um we can take a look.

[15:30] Will there be any tree clearing done

[15:32] around 5100 building and the bridge that

[15:36] connects to the other side?

[15:40] Good question.

[15:42] The map here and look at that site.

[15:45] Nothing is being done to the Eden Avenue

[15:47] bridge.

[15:51] I don't think they have any trees on

[15:53] their site. There's a few trees and

[15:56] landscaping above that big retaining

[15:58] wall. There's a few trees along Eden by

[16:04] their east driveway.

[16:07] those would get removed but then the

[16:09] other trees are mostly in mind rightway.

[16:11] So that's a question for

[16:14] the developer and whether they worked

[16:16] out any agreements with Mindot and those

[16:18] trees that are outside their property

[16:20] line in the Mindot right away on the

[16:22] east or the north side of this port.

[16:29] At a previous update you mentioned that

[16:32] CPKC was paid to expedite a decision on

[16:35] the line. Who paid to expedite the

[16:37] decision and how was it paid?

[16:40] Uh it's a project expense. So it's split

[16:43] between all the parties

[16:45] and paid as such.

[16:55] Great questions.

[16:57] Great questions.

[17:01] What will replace the 5100 Eden

[17:04] building? Uh it's going to be a

[17:07] corporate headquarters, so commercial

[17:10] building

[17:12] uh for Opus, the Opus Development

[17:15] Company, and then have a little retail

[17:20] space on the first floor.

[17:22] Those can be found, those were in

[17:24] council packets earlier this year if

[17:26] you're interested in seeing all those

[17:28] renderings

[17:29] of the project that was approved by the

[17:31] city council.

[17:39] questions.

[17:41] Uh, I didn't answer. So, Justin, on that

[17:45] decision to expedite, that was a $2,000

[17:49] fee if you want to know. We felt like

[17:51] that was justified for a $20 million

[17:54] project to try to keep it on schedule as

[17:57] best we could because we felt like that

[17:58] could be the hangup of this. my opinion

[18:02] it's been more Excel has been the hang

[18:04] up on this matter.

[18:14] Um and Bill just put a link in from

[18:16] better together.org the Opus 5100 Eden

[18:19] development. So there's a link if you're

[18:22] interested in looking at that

[18:24] development project. Thanks, Bill, doing

[18:26] that.

[18:31] Other questions? So, I think there's a

[18:34] lot of unknowns, unknown schedule on the

[18:36] ramp closures coming up, unknowns on

[18:40] when two parties are going to figure out

[18:43] the power line.

[18:46] So then that creates an unknown on just

[18:48] the overall project schedule and

[18:50] potential costs.

[18:52] When we know more, we'll be sharing more

[18:55] specifics out on these meetings, on the

[18:57] website, and all those other

[18:59] communication channels that we discussed

[19:01] earlier.

[19:08] Uh Darren, where can I reach out to you

[19:10] about a question space? Uh go to the

[19:12] better together.org

[19:14] website, find the project page, and

[19:16] Derek and I's phone number and emails

[19:18] are on there. So then you can just ping

[19:22] us that way, share your info and we can

[19:24] reach out and meet you probably the best

[19:26] is meet you out at Devanis and review

[19:29] the area you're concerned about.

[19:31] Derrick's out there every day for the

[19:33] most part and can meet with you to have

[19:35] those discussions.

[19:39] Check out the website for emails and

[19:41] phone numbers.

[19:48] Anything else?

[19:52] Great questions.

[20:00] We will post the slides. We'll post this

[20:04] recording to the website

[20:07] as soon as we can. So, if you know of

[20:08] others that want to see or hear this

[20:10] information, send them there. If you got

[20:12] specific questions, just reach out to me

[20:14] or Derek. Be appreciated. For a

[20:17] reminder, in two weeks, Derek will be

[20:18] presenting information on where we're

[20:20] at. So,

[20:22] thanks everybody. Appreciate your time

[20:25] and interest.