[0:00] Meeting number nine already. Man, time's

[0:03] flying. Meeting number nine, July 24th,

[0:06] 2025. We are recording these and posting

[0:09] the videos online, the bi-weekly meeting

[0:12] for the Vernon Avenue Highway 100

[0:15] interchange project. And I'm Chad

[0:17] Milner, engineering director for the

[0:18] city.

[0:20] Again, thank you for the patience.

[0:22] Businesses are open and accessible. Uh

[0:26] we have all the construction related

[0:27] stuff. everyone's well aware of what's

[0:29] going on out there.

[0:31] Continue to be courteous of the fellow

[0:34] drivers. Stop for pedestrians and

[0:35] crosswalks.

[0:38] We're recommending using the crosswalk

[0:39] at Vernon and Eden instead of that Eden

[0:42] Avenue bid block crossing. We just don't

[0:45] feel we can make it as safe as it needs

[0:47] to be with the volumes of traffic that

[0:49] need to use Eden Avenue for this project

[0:51] for the detour. So again, we recommend

[0:54] you use that Vernon Eden crosswalk at

[0:57] the full intersection. Um, and then we

[1:00] also continue to get calls and emails

[1:01] about courteousness of the drivers

[1:04] around the roundabout. Uh, I wish we

[1:07] could change some of those behaviors,

[1:08] but yeah, there's some people that

[1:10] aren't allowing others to get in. So

[1:13] there's somebody driving through there.

[1:14] I would suggest if you see a long line,

[1:16] just slow down. Let one or two cars

[1:19] sneak in. the car behind you honks at

[1:22] you, make sure you wave with all five

[1:23] fingers and uh proceed on. So maybe we

[1:27] can change some of those behaviors going

[1:29] forward.

[1:31] These are our goals again after the

[1:34] project goals, you know, improving the

[1:35] safety and mobility for all users,

[1:37] improving traffic operations,

[1:40] and improving those connections between

[1:42] residential and commercial areas. Then

[1:45] the schedule there is listed again on

[1:46] the bottom. And we've talked at this

[1:48] meeting of continuing to hold to that

[1:51] date for this year, but we got challenge

[1:54] with the west butments of the Verdon

[1:56] Avenue bridge, which we'll discuss and

[1:58] got a slight update in that. And if

[2:01] people aren't aware, this is the project

[2:03] area west of Interlockan Boulevard on

[2:06] Vernon Avenue all the way over to near

[2:10] city hall by Graange Road and 50th

[2:12] Street. So this is the project area. The

[2:15] orange are the two big bridges that take

[2:17] the most amount of work for the project

[2:20] and those are moving along right now.

[2:24] Lots of communications. You continue to

[2:25] see press releases

[2:27] whenever we do a major traffic cha

[2:30] change. So, lots of stuff just went out

[2:32] this week on all these different

[2:34] methods. Continue to have these

[2:36] bi-weekly meetings. You can sign up for

[2:37] the email updates. Go to the better

[2:39] together website. Uh the map on the

[2:42] bottom is the new information and I'll

[2:45] get into that a little bit, but that is

[2:47] the new map for

[2:49] Monday. So starting Monday, the onramp

[2:53] to northbound high 100 from 50th Street

[2:57] will be closed. So there will be no

[3:00] access to northbound 100 from either

[3:04] Graange Road or 50th Street. and we'll

[3:06] show you that a little more detail, but

[3:09] that's the major traffic change for next

[3:11] week. We know it's going to be

[3:12] challenging, people finding their new

[3:14] routes and we'll continue to monitor

[3:17] traffic and see if we need to add

[3:19] signage, speed display signs, other

[3:22] things along those frontage roads

[3:25] heading to the south because there is a

[3:27] on-ramp from Benton Avenue. So, the

[3:30] local detour is using the east and west

[3:33] frontage roads.

[3:35] uh sign detour. The more regional detour

[3:38] is getting onto southbound 100,

[3:42] taking the eastbound 62 exit and then

[3:45] immediately taking the northbound high

[3:47] 100 exit to get on northbound highway

[3:50] 100.

[3:53] Other activities, so interlocking in

[3:56] Vernon, if you've seen it, it is

[3:58] continues to be free flowing there.

[4:00] That's working rather well to have that

[4:02] traffic pushed to the south and east.

[4:05] Thus Young Lane lane continues to be

[4:07] closed near Edina liquor store. Those

[4:10] are the lane shifts we've been doing for

[4:12] underground utility work. And then

[4:14] within that area where the traffic is

[4:16] flowing today, you'll see that curb and

[4:18] sidewalk and paving. Some of those areas

[4:21] are complete. At least the first layers

[4:24] of paving is complete. Um, and then

[4:28] they'll start to work on that other

[4:29] corner on the caribou side when the pipe

[4:32] work is done in that area. So, starting

[4:35] to piece it together. The exception is

[4:37] the median that's west on Vernon. We're

[4:39] going to leave the median out in case we

[4:41] need to do lane shifts as they build the

[4:43] west abutment of the Vernon Avenue

[4:45] bridge. They might need a little bit

[4:46] more space there. So, uh, but they're

[4:49] trying to get done as much as they can

[4:50] now and reopen as much as they can.

[4:55] So, the big thing we've been talking

[4:57] about the last few meetings is this

[4:58] Excel power line that was in a different

[5:00] location horizontally and vertically

[5:02] circled in the picture. It was hit. It

[5:05] was repaired. And then the two agencies

[5:08] CPKC Rail and Excel have been going back

[5:11] and forth having discussions, permits,

[5:13] agreements, all that kind of stuff,

[5:16] figure out when they can move it. So, a

[5:18] permit was submitted by Excel Energy to

[5:21] the railroad

[5:23] to put in a casing pipe and relocate

[5:26] this power line around the bridge

[5:28] foundations. And it is under review by

[5:31] CPKC Rail. We've paid to expedite that

[5:34] review, but we still don't know exactly

[5:37] when that permit's going to be done and

[5:39] hopefully approved. And then Excel has

[5:42] to schedule crews to deenergize that

[5:45] line as our contractor assists with

[5:49] burying that new steel conduit where

[5:51] these lines will be inside of around the

[5:54] bridge foundation. So still got concerns

[5:57] with schedule and ability to catch up.

[6:01] We still have no control because these

[6:03] the energy company Excel and the rail

[6:06] are their own agencies. We don't have uh

[6:09] jurisdiction to force them to expedite

[6:12] their things. We continue to communicate

[6:14] with them every other day. Um and again,

[6:18] we are getting very close to major

[6:20] impacts. So, more to come on that.

[6:24] And then the road closure I mentioned.

[6:25] So, this is a graphic showing that that

[6:27] northbound on-ramp from 50th Street will

[6:29] be closing on Monday, July 28th. We

[6:34] don't have a date when it would open,

[6:36] but for sure to late fall. They're

[6:38] building noise walls, adjusting the

[6:40] ramp, the traffic signals adjacent to

[6:43] the bridge, sidewalks, all that stuff.

[6:46] Uh there is a GIS map on the better

[6:48] together page that shows you that

[6:51] closure and then those detours that I

[6:53] explained earlier, the local detours at

[6:55] Benton and the larger detour down the

[6:58] Highway 62.

[7:01] Preview. At some point, we're going to

[7:03] need to close the southbound off-ramp

[7:06] from 100. So, it's the left X out on

[7:10] this graphic. We don't have an exact

[7:12] date yet, but there's been some

[7:13] discussions mid to late August.

[7:16] Uh, could be that time. So, here the

[7:20] detour to get into the district at this

[7:22] point would be down. Uh, again, there's

[7:24] kind of two. You can take the exit at

[7:26] Benton Avenue, take frontage roads, or

[7:28] the big sign regional detour would be

[7:30] Highway 62. you come back northbound on

[7:34] 100 and use the Graange Road exit.

[7:37] So, that is still being discussed on

[7:39] when that final ramp closure would occur

[7:43] uh for these two ramps. We still have

[7:44] the Graange exit at some point in the

[7:47] future. Um some other project tenative

[7:50] dates, the Highway 100 bridge

[7:52] construction is going really well. Uh

[7:54] girders, the placement is tenatively

[7:56] scheduled for the week first week of

[7:58] September and this would be night work.

[8:00] So you'd really see that bridge starting

[8:03] to take shape after those have been

[8:05] placed. So very tentative at this point.

[8:08] That's roughly what the contractor's

[8:10] thinking.

[8:12] And then back to some pictures that I

[8:13] share every week. So this is looking

[8:16] east towards the Devanis from

[8:20] the Grand View Liquor side. Upper left

[8:23] was six weeks ago. Bottom left was four

[8:26] weeks ago. So the middle two were kind

[8:29] of that last week, two weeks ago time

[8:32] frame and then the bigger one on the

[8:34] right hand side is from this morning. So

[8:37] that's where that abutment for that

[8:39] bridge that work is happening for the

[8:42] Vernon Avenue bridge

[8:45] down liquor store. We were closed for

[8:47] two weeks while work happened. So the

[8:48] photo on the left is mid midstream when

[8:50] some of the concrete was placed. Just

[8:52] gravel parking lot. Picture on the right

[8:55] is the finished parking lot, curb,

[8:59] uh, pedestrian ramps up to the front

[9:01] door, new pavement, new parking stall,

[9:04] paint, and ADA parking stalls.

[9:09] The one on the left was from a couple

[9:11] weeks ago looking east towards city

[9:15] hall, I think across Highway 100. You

[9:18] can see some of the forms. One on the

[9:20] right is that update. So you can see the

[9:23] center median pier is all the forms have

[9:26] been pulled on that structure. Um work

[9:30] progresses in that area.

[9:34] Picture on the left is Hawthorne Court.

[9:36] The apartments see that that retaining

[9:39] wall continues to be built uh in

[9:42] anticipation of the noise wall that'll

[9:44] be going on top of it. And then the

[9:47] photo on the right is again those

[9:48] apartments from a different angle. And

[9:49] you can see that machine in the center.

[9:52] That's a big horizontal directional

[9:53] drilling machine. They are starting to

[9:56] drill under high 100 for a new water

[10:00] mane connection. We don't have a water

[10:02] mane connection that goes through this

[10:04] area. So this will help make our water

[10:06] distribution system more redundant and

[10:09] increase fire flow in the area. So this

[10:11] is a very large drill underneath high.

[10:15] They'll drill underneath. Eventually,

[10:18] there'll be pipe laid out on 50th Street

[10:19] and then they're going to pull that pipe

[10:21] back to this location on the west side

[10:24] underneath the highway and then make

[10:26] those final connections to the water

[10:27] main system.

[10:31] This is that intersection we talked

[10:32] about. So, you can see Holiday in the

[10:34] background in Caribou. Uh this is the

[10:37] corner where they're wrapping up some of

[10:38] those final utility connections to the

[10:41] storm sewer. You can see where the

[10:43] paving's been completed, where the curbs

[10:45] been completed on the south and the east

[10:47] side of that intersection. Once they get

[10:49] this utility work done, they'll be doing

[10:51] the street paving first the concrete

[10:53] work, curbon gutter, then the sidewalks,

[10:57] and then pave the first layer paving in

[10:59] this area. And then that section will be

[11:03] mostly complete or at least enough to be

[11:05] able to shift traffic around as needed

[11:07] with any future operations related to

[11:09] the Vernon Avenue bridge.

[11:12] And then just some other pictures. The

[11:14] one on the left, you see Devon's in the

[11:16] background. That's some of the forms

[11:18] they use. So just some of the areas

[11:21] where most people will never get to. So

[11:23] you can see the the ladders and the

[11:25] stairs and the grade protection with the

[11:27] plastic, some of those supports. So they

[11:30] fill that with concrete and then they

[11:33] peel those forms away. So you can see on

[11:34] the right hand side, that's a a

[11:36] different area. That's the Highway 100

[11:38] bridge. But you can see the finish there

[11:40] as they pull those forms away uh for the

[11:43] the stuff that'll be visible from high

[11:46] 100 for that bridge. And if you note

[11:49] that texture on that right hand picture,

[11:53] you can see in our in our renderings on

[11:56] the right hand side that same texture on

[11:58] the bridge. So that's where we're where

[12:00] that picture here on the right is

[12:02] located is on the right hand side of the

[12:03] I 100 bridge from these renderings. And

[12:06] again, these are the renderings of the

[12:07] finished product.

[12:09] So with that

[12:12] I'll stop sharing and just see

[12:18] there's any questions here

[12:21] chat.

[12:25] Uh I see Brian's typing right now.

[12:28] Otherwise I don't see any other

[12:29] questions this point. We'll give it a

[12:32] little time. If people got questions

[12:34] just put them in the chat.

[12:36] happy to try to answer those. Now,

[12:40] if you can't get them in there, um, you

[12:43] can always contact me by email or give

[12:45] me a call.

[12:48] Will there be beams for or support

[12:51] underneath the new Vernon Avenue bridge

[12:53] like the old one?

[12:57] Um, they're going to span between, so

[12:59] there won't uh there won't be the same

[13:02] ones like the old bridge.

[13:05] Uh Barb had a question. Can you tell me

[13:07] anything is being done about the traffic

[13:09] control on Eden Avenue? Uh we continue

[13:12] to monitor it. If we need additional

[13:13] support, we're going to ask if we need

[13:15] additional signs. Again, it's behaviors.

[13:17] How do you get people to be more

[13:18] courteous when they're driving through

[13:21] with the closure of those on and off

[13:23] ramps coming in the next Well, one's

[13:26] Monday and then the next is, you know,

[13:29] two to four weeks out. Uh I traffic's

[13:32] going to get worse and then school's

[13:34] going to start and it's going to get

[13:35] worse again. So we just all need to work

[13:37] together on the traffic situation on

[13:41] Eden Avenue.

[13:44] Uh another question, when they work on

[13:47] the west side of the rail bridge, where

[13:50] will they have their work area? Yeah,

[13:52] that's where they might use a portion of

[13:54] that interlock and Vernon intersection

[13:58] and that portion of Gus Young that's

[14:00] been closed. So, they might set up some

[14:02] cranes there and have some work areas in

[14:05] there. They do have a a road, a

[14:07] temporary service road coming from the

[14:10] east side that they can go and cross the

[14:12] rail down low and then go back out. So,

[14:14] they have a couple ways to enter and

[14:17] exit down by the rail with equipment.

[14:20] They got permission to cross the rail

[14:23] north of, you know, closer to Holiday.

[14:26] And then I think they also got

[14:27] permission to come from the south

[14:29] underneath the Gus Young Bridge. So,

[14:31] there's some ways they can get in there

[14:33] and stage equipment.

[14:36] Uh Darren had a question. Is there a

[14:38] covered pathway trail with trees looking

[14:40] towards the north heading to that bridge

[14:43] between Holiday and the railroad? Will

[14:45] that trail still be accessible once the

[14:47] new bridge over the rail? That trail is

[14:49] a is a I call it a bandit path, a cow

[14:52] path. It's not a legal trail. People

[14:56] have just created that trail illegally

[14:58] on railroad property. I wanted to make

[15:00] that an actual city trail and sidewalk.

[15:03] The railroad would not give easements or

[15:06] permission to do that. So whether or not

[15:08] that little pathway continues

[15:11] is up to the railroad if they want to

[15:13] put up fences and keep people out or

[15:15] whether the people just establish a new

[15:17] cow path through there. So that is not a

[15:20] fully accessible, not a formal trail at

[15:23] all.

[15:26] Uh Barb had comments about the traffic

[15:28] on even Eden Avenue. Traffic's gotten

[15:30] worse, not better. There about 200

[15:33] families that have no other option but

[15:35] to get in and out of the neighborhood

[15:36] via Eden. What is the trigger you are

[15:40] looking for as you monitor traffic to

[15:43] get something done to create more

[15:44] controls?

[15:46] Uh we continue to see if people can

[15:48] reasonably get back and forth along that

[15:50] east and west corridor. Uh I'm out there

[15:53] every other day or so watching and

[15:55] seeing where the backups are and we look

[15:58] for opt options. our options are

[16:00] limited. Um, is there other things we

[16:02] can do? That's what we'll have to

[16:04] consider. When the ramps are closed, I

[16:07] think a big portion of traffic that

[16:10] currently uses the off-ramp behind

[16:12] Hillside, when that closes, it's going

[16:14] to change operations again. Is that

[16:15] going to make it any better or worse? We

[16:17] won't know until it happens.

[16:20] So, we understand there's a lot of

[16:22] challenges. We need Eden to support as

[16:25] much traffic as we can because there's

[16:26] just not other options in the area.

[16:29] Eventually, we can start to open up when

[16:32] these ramps get built. Some of those can

[16:34] open back up, but we're just starting to

[16:35] close them. So, we got a lot of work to

[16:37] do before any of those could be

[16:38] reopened.

[16:40] Uh Darren, just curious, when

[16:44] were both the old bridges built? Um, I

[16:48] know the high 100 bridge was a 1973.

[16:53] Vernon, I think, was the 50s, but don't

[16:57] quote me on that. We can get

[17:00] I can officially get that one, but that

[17:01] one was much older um much older and

[17:05] needed to be replaced uh as part of the

[17:08] project.

[17:10] Um is there a visual of what the top of

[17:14] the concrete wall will look like? What

[17:16] color and material?

[17:18] Uh Cheryl asked that question.

[17:22] The wall itself will look a lot like the

[17:24] old wall. It'll just be on top of a

[17:25] retaining wall. So what you see along

[17:28] typical mindot walls, we don't have some

[17:30] rendering showing that um because it's

[17:33] going to be matching what's there that's

[17:35] still in place to the east and north

[17:38] where the removals ended.

[17:42] Uh Darren, so you're saying that the

[17:43] Excel power line they would have to dig

[17:46] underneath Gus Young Bridge and do more

[17:49] tree clearing. No, no more tree

[17:51] clearing. I just mentioned that

[17:52] contractors can drive I think and I'm

[17:55] not this is between them and the

[17:57] railroad but I believe they have access

[18:00] from almost the old public works site

[18:03] along the tracks there just to access

[18:06] some of that area. So at this point

[18:09] um don't anticipate more clearing under

[18:12] there that was all done earlier as part

[18:14] of the project. The real work is where

[18:16] that picture is that I've been showing

[18:18] you of that power line hit. You need to

[18:20] be bury steel conduit in that area. Put

[18:23] the new lines in. Go to a power pole

[18:26] that's over by holiday and reestablish

[18:28] that electrical service.

[18:30] And that's happening when we're in the

[18:33] middle of a summer. Hot days are the

[18:35] highest demand for power. So, we don't

[18:37] want that redundant power line to be out

[18:40] of commission for very long. And we're

[18:43] working with Excel on when that work can

[18:45] be done. As soon as the railroad

[18:48] approves that permit that was submitted

[18:50] by Excel.

[18:54] Great questions. Great questions.

[19:02] Other question. Will Devanis have enough

[19:04] room to reopen their patio after?

[19:08] Yeah. Yep. They will be reopening that

[19:11] patio after the bridge is done. That is

[19:14] correct.

[19:23] Other questions?

[19:25] If not here, send me an email, give me a

[19:29] call. Name and numbers on the better

[19:30] together.org

[19:33] website.

[19:35] Please be patient on Monday when we

[19:37] close another ramp. It's going to be

[19:39] challenging in that area.

[19:42] Um,

[19:44] but we'll get through it.

[19:47] Any other questions?

[19:53] Not seeing any and not seeing any

[19:55] typing. Thanks everybody. We'll post the

[19:58] video, post the PowerPoint slides, and

[20:01] if you got questions, reach out to me.

[20:03] Thank you.