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HomeMy WebLinkAboutresolution.council.021-91 . . . RESOLUTION No.~1 Series of 1991 JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ASPEN, COLORADO AND OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO TO THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGARDING STATE HIGHWAY 82 ENLARGEMENT DESIGN GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THAT PORTION OF THE HIGHWAY BETWEEN THE AIRPORT AND THE SEVENTH STREET AND MAIN STREET INTERSECTION. WHEREAS, the city Council of Aspen and the Board of County connissioners , Pitkin County (hereinafter, "Elected Officials) have met jointly with the Colorado Department of Transportation (hereinafter, "CDOT") on at least five occasions to discuss design guidelines and reconnendations for the enlargement of state Highway 82 (hereinafter, "SH 82") from the airport area to the intersection of Seventh Street and Main Street; WHEREAS, prior to the Elected Officials' discussion with the CDOT numerous meetings were held with CDOT, CDOT consultants, and the community's SH 82 Highway Advisory Committee, the Aspen Planning and Zoning Connission, and the Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission, both jointly and individually, to discuss design concerns for enlarging this section of SH 82; WHEREAS, the Elected Officials have considered the recommendations forwarded by the Planning and Zoning commissions and the Advisory Committee; and WHEREAS, the Elected Officials have very serious concerns over the enlarged highway's impact on the special character and social fabric of the community. The Elected Officials consider it essential to a successful design that special consideration be given to reduced design speeds, narrow med~ans, narrow shoulders 1 . - - and narrow overall pavement width in order to minimize impacts to Aspen's overall attractiveness. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the city council of Aspen and the Board of County cOll\1llissioners of Pitkin County that in order to preserve the community's unique character which is made up of definable neighborhoods separated by undeveloped open space and linked with unobtrusive roads; and to reduce the serious adverse impact to the cOll\1llunity's social fabric which a four lane highl'lay and its construction will generate. Additionally, we want to avoid the impacts that an "expressway" like road (high speed, wide) will bring to our community. Therefore, we strongly offer the following guidelines and recommendations to assist the CDOT in developing a roadway design which is not destructive to our community. Airport to Maroon creek Bridqe: It ~s envisioned that in this section of the highway the CDOT and Pitkin County will \'/ork together to minimize the left turn needs onto and off of the highway. Service to the activity centers in this area can be attained through frontage roads and modest grade separations. It is important that the CDOT design the highway in a manner which does not preclude the County from accomplishing these local roadway reconfigurations. The following are recommended guidelines in this section of the highway: Design Speed: 40 mph should be the design speed and posted 2 e - - speed in this area. Median width and Design: Median width should be no more than 16 feet. In areas where there are no requirements for left turns the median shall be narrower. Median design shall be a raised curb with a hard surfaced landscape architectural treatment between the curbs. If possible, irrigated landscaping shall be incorporated in this median design. Shoulder width: Shoulders widths should be 6 feet except where pedestrian and transit needs require the shoulders to be wider. CDOT and the Roaring Fork Transit Agency General Manager shall coordinate transit needs. Maroon Creek Bridqe: The Elected Officials have transmitted to the CDOT Resolution 8, Series of 1991 establishing design guidelines for the Maroon Creek bridge. All the recommendations in that document apply; however, the 10 foot median does not require a "jersey" barrier as originally expected because of the 40 mph design speeds. Therefore, the median design on the Maroon Creek Bridge should be a raised curb with a hard surfaced landscape architectural treatment between the curbs. The 10 foot median on the bridge is accomplished by eliminating the need for left turns at each end of the bridge (the Ranch Road and the west entrance to the Aspen Tennis Club Subdivision) . 3 . e e Maroon Creek Bridge to Maroon Creek Road: This section of the highway is in large part a continuation of the previous section. Design Speed: 40 mph should be the design speed and posted speed in this area. Median width and Design: Median width should be no more than 16 feet. In areas where there are no requirements for left turns the median shall be narrower. Median design shall be a raised curb with a hard surfaced landscape architectural treatment between the curbs. If possible, irrigated landscaping shall be incorporated in this median design. Shoulder Width: Shoulders widths should be 6 feet except where pedestrian and transit needs require the shoulders to be wider. CDOT and the Roaring Fork Transit Agency General Manager shall coordinate transit needs. Maroon creek Road to Castle creek: This is an espec~ally important section because of the community's Marolt-Thomas open space which the highway will bisect. It is very important that the highway design be sensitive to this area and minimize the highway's impact on this community asset. Design Speed: 35 mph should be the design speed and posted speed in this area. 4 - - e Median Width and Design: Median width should be no more than 16 feet. In areas where there are no requirements for left turns the median shall be narrower. The median shall be 16 feet in the area of Maroon Creek Road (to allow for a left turn lane) and the remainder of the area shall be 8 feet. Median design shall be a raised curb with a hard surfaced landscaped architectural treatment between the curbs. Shoulder width: Shoulders widths should be 6 feet except where pedestrian and transit needs require the shoulders to be wider. CDOT and the Roaring Fork Transit Agency General Manager shall coordinate transit needs. Highway Alignment: The highway shall be aligned so that it makes a wide sweeping curve to the south and then curves back to the north travelling over the northern boundary of the historic site in the vicinity of the existing trail. The alignment then travels across Castle Creek and follows the alignment which City voters agreed to in early w~nter of 1990. Castle creek to Seventh street: This is another very sensitive area because a new highway corridor will be established in a residential area where a highway did not previously exist. In this area it is very important that the highway be designed to 5 . - - reduce the adverse impacts of traffic noise, visual pollution, and air pollution. In this area the Elected Officials request that the CDOT consult the neighborhood on a regular basis to establish appropriate design alternatives and solutions. The following are suggestions made by the neighborhood: A. The highway should be depressed below existing grade as it crosses between the easterly bank of Castle Creek and Eighth street as necessary to fully mitigate visual, noise, and air pollution impacts to the Villas of Aspen. The use of sound barriers with appropriate landscaping and berrning will be used to avoid an "urban wall" effect as viewed from the Villas of Aspen looking southerly. If necessary, the bridge crossing Castle Creek shall be depressed below grade in order to accomplish the depression easterly of its location without excessive grades. B. Between Eighth street and Seventh Street the highway should continue to be depressed with its grade eventually reaching natural grade at Seventh and Main. Significant landscaping, berrning and sound barrier structures shall be utilized in this section to fully mitigate the visual, noise, and air pollution impacts of backed up and accelerating traffic at the Seventh and Main intersection as these impacts will adversely 6 1- e e affect existing residential uses. Additional right-of- way shall be acquired, if necessary, for use in the placement of these mitigation measures. C. Comprehensive noise and air pollution evaluation shall be undertaken as part of the final EIS in order to adequately assess these impacts on the Marolt Park area and the residential neighborhood between Seventh Street and the easterly bank of Castle Creek. Mitigation measures shall be designed to respond to these evaluations and avoid harmful env~ronmental, aesthetic, and health effects from the placement of the highway in this location. D. The visual impact on the entrance to Aspen between Seventh Street and the easterly bank of Castle Creek shall be mitigated by the acquisition of sufficient right-of-way to place landscaping. E. The grade from Seventh StreetjSH 82 intersection to the west end of the new Castle Creek bridge shall not be more than two percent. This will help reduce vehicle noise under load entering town (vehicles will be decelerating uphill) and leaving town (vehicles will be accelerating down hill) . 7 - Design Speed: 30 mph (starting at the Castle Creek Bridge) should be the design speed and posted speed in this area. Median Width and Design: Median width should be no more than 16 feet. In areas where there are no requirements for left turns the median shall be narrower. The median shall be 16 feet in the area of Seventh Street and the remainder of the area shall be 8 feet. Median design shall be a raised curb with a hard surfaced landscape architectural treatment between the curbs. e Shoulder width: Shoulders widths should be 6 feet except where pedestrian and transit needs require the shoulders to be wider. CDOT and the Roaring Fork Transit Agency General Manager shall coordinate transit needs. Castle creek Bridge: The following is the Elected Officials' recommendation for the Castle Creek Bridge design. two 1 ft guard rails two 5 ft sidewalks two 6 ft shoulders four - 12 ft travel lanes one 8 ft median Total- 80 ft e 8 - e ~ '., General Comments on the Entire Corridor: The following are general comments which can be made about the entire corridor. These comments are made to ensure that the highway is designed in a way that reduces its negative impacts, as much as possible and allows the highway to function for transit, bicycles, and pedestrians, as well as for automobiles. Trails: The Elected Officials have established a policy which requires trails on both sides of the highway throughout the entire corridor. Pedestrian Underpasses: Underpasses along the trail system provide two primary benefits: to make the trail system continuous and attractive for pedestrian and bicycle use without interruptions by the highwaYi and second, help establish convenient transit functions, i.e., transferring transit riders can utilize the underpasses to safely get to busses on the other side of the highway. The Elected Officials have concluded that a narrow roadway cross section with a minimum median will allow for the least expensive underpass design and the most usable underpass design. It is important that the actual design of the underpasses be accomplished so that stairs or steep ramps are avoided and that they be attractive, Hell lighted, and large enough to accommodated trail maintenance vehicles. 9 - - e The Elected Officials recommend that pedestrian underpasses be located in the following areas. At the airport; Buttermilk; Grand Champions (in conjunction with vehicle underpasses); at each end of the new Maroon Creek Bridge which connects to the existing Maroon Creek Bridge to become a trail bridge; at the Truscott Place/Golf Course entrance; at the intersection of Maroon Creek Road and SH 82, to allow for the future possibility of bus transfers at this location, as well as trail connections from one side of the highway to the other; and at the west end of the Castle Creek Bridge. All of these locations appear on the 1"=200' map drawn by Design \~orkshop, Inc., (CDOT consultant) titled "Trail Alternatives". Landscaping: Landscaping shall be consistent with the surrounding environment; however, from Maroon Creek Road to Seventh street landscaping should be intense and an obvious design feature for the "Entrance to Aspen". Finally, the Marolt- Thomas open space property has a line of cottonwoods in the vicini ty of the new highway alignment. The Elected Officials have been assured that these cottonwoods will not be destroyed. The Elected Officials want to retain these cottonwoods. Maintenance of Rxistinq Maroon creek Bridqe: The CDOT has agreed to continuous maintenance of the existing Maroon Creek Bridge as a component of the Aspen and Pitkin County trail system. The Elected Off icials are very grateful that the CDOT is being so 10 - . . cooperative with the community in this regard. Maintenance of Existing Castle Creek Bridqe: The CDOT has agreed to provide adequate maintenance of the existing Castle Creek Bridge prior to the City of Aspen accepting bridge ownership. Maroon Creek Road Intersection: This intersection shall be designed at grade as a signalized intersection. Further, the design of this intersection must take into account the needs of the Maroon Creek and Castle Creek roads for left turns so that these roads function appropriately. For example, this intersection can be improved if Aspen bound traffic from Castle Creek Road can be designed to flol'l freely onto SH 82 \'lithout going through the signalized intersection. Plum Tree Plavinq Field: According to Bill Efting, Assistant city Manager, if any portion of the existing playing field is used for the highway, then the Plum Tree will not be an adequate facility. The highway enlargement project, specifically the new Maroon Creek bridge and the roadway east of the bridge will use a portion of the Plum Tree playing field. As a result, the playing field will be encroached upon to the point that the field will be incapable of accommodating baseball, soccer, and softball; therefore, the CDOT must provide the city of Aspen with a replacement facility. 11 . e - Adopted Plans and ReQ"Ulations: The CDOT is aware that SH 82 improvements constitute development and these improvements will be required to comply with the development regulations in both the city and the County. Desiqn to Facilitate Bus Transit: All design must incorporate all features necessary to give convenient priority access to present and foreseeable future bus transit functions. This effort shall be guided by and coordinated with the Roaring Fork Transit Agency General Manager. In particular: A. All intersections shall be designed to permit convenient transfers between buses, minimizing the need for buses to leave the highway. B. Safe pedestrian access should be provided for all bus patrons to and from trails on both sides of the highl'lay, and for crossing the highway. Pedestrian underpasses (or overpasses which do not require stairs or extensive ramps) should be incorporated at all major intersections and other major bus stop locations. C. The design of the highway shall accommodate areas for bus shelters, waiting areas and connecting pedestrian ways. 12 ,- . . D. The des~gn of the highway must allow easy access to bus stops from the trail system. Construction Management and Mitiqation: In order to mitigate impacts on county roads and maintain mass transit schedules, two lane detours are requested wherever feasible. Those highway sections which require any stopping of traffic should be scheduled to begin in mid April and completed in the most expeditious manner possible. In order to ensure that the highway corridor and not the County road system mitigates construction impacts, the CDOT shall provide priority transit/HOV bypasses where construction is likely to cause traffic disruption. Further, the Elected Officials would request that specific performance standards for construction delays be \'/ri tten into construction contracts. These standards should be developed through discussion with CDOT and Elected Officials. Desiqn Review Process: The Elected Officials thank the CDOT for the opportunity to help establish design guidelines. The Elected Officials encourage the CDOT to keep the community, especially the Villas of Aspen neighborhood, involved in the actual design process so that obvious design alternatives can be explored at an early stage rather than after expensive drawings have been commissioned. This will ensure the most expeditious process possible. 13 ~ re . ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS / /7 0/0(~ .~~~ Jeanette Jone/ - - - ~eputy Clerk & Recorder By: f~ b,tfl ,1A,M :~~ Ethridge irman Date r ~~ /0 , 1991 William L. Stirling, Mayor I, Kathryn Koch, duly appointed and acting City Clerk do certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of that resolution adopted by the City Council of the city of Aspen, Colorado, at a meeting held r- /0 , 1991- ~~~~ch~~erk sh82.jt.reso.ccbocc.3 14 ,...l