The road-type evaluation of the Bridge Avenue corridor compiled by SRF Consulting Group Inc. lays out several different options for redevelopment of the primary conduit between Albert Lea’s downtown and the commercial and residential areas to the north.

It can be difficult to comprehend the 32-page document. Yet it has great importance for the north side’s future. This synopsis of the evaluation’s findings should help.

Background of the project

In the introduction of SRF’s evaluation, dated June 2008, the document states that the Bridge Avenue corridor serves a wide variety of land uses, including the Albert Lea Municipal Airport, Riverland Community College, Albert Lea High School, Freeborn County Fairgrounds, single-family and high-density residential neighborhoods, and significant commercial and industrial developments.

“Presently, Bridge Avenue faces the challenge of safely providing for the movement of traffic, including pedestrians and bicycles, while balancing the need for mobility and access to current residents, businesses and industries,” it states. “As growth and development occur, local and regional agencies have become increasingly concerned with long-term operational, safety and access needs along the corridor.”

Thus, the goal of the road design-type study was to evaluate safety and operational issues as well as environmental concerns for the building alternatives.

Objectives listed in the evaluation included providing adequate capacity on Bridge Avenue, limiting unsafe roadway geometrics, correcting existing roadway deficiencies, providing facilities that accommodate multi-modal transportation, seeking to minimize public costs, accommodating public and private facilities and having consistency with county and city plans.

What: public meeting about the Bridge Avenue corridor

Where: Albert Lea City Hall

When: 7 p.m. today

The report’s findings

The document stated it evaluated the daily traffic volumes, conducted a crash analysis, and accessed and designed characteristics.

In 2005, the city conducted daily traffic counts at five different locations along the corridor: south of Marshall Street, south of Richway Drive, north and south of Hammer Road, south of I-90, and on Wilson Street and Katherine Street from Bridge Avenue and Main Street. The data was collected using what are called tube counters, in order to gather data for a full 24-hour period.

Traffic volumes were found to range from 7,500 vehicles to 10,700 vehicles per day. The heaviest volumes were south of Hammer Road and south of Marshall Street.

“Based on the current volumes and planning-level capacities, all two-lane segments of Bridge Avenue (areas south of Hammer Road) are theoretically operating near capacity,” the report states. “This suggests the need to plan for corridor upgrades to adequately meet current and future transportation demands.”

Because of these findings, Albert Lea and Freeborn County officials started to talk about what should happen with the corridor. The road, which is also named Freeborn County Road 22, is a county highway that runs through the city limits. That means both the city and the county have a role in its renovations.

Recently, city and county leaders had a meeting to discuss the different design options for the road and whether to pursue funding opportunities on the state and federal level.

The evaluation went on to describe a crash analysis conducted from records from Jan. 1, 2001, through Dec. 31, 2003. During that period, there were 164 intersection crashes between Hoeger Lane and Clark Street.

The severity of the crashes, however, was low and there were no fatalities in that area during the study time.

“The majority of the crashes at the remaining intersections are rear-end collisions and the main factor is an inattentive driver,” the report states.

It said there are 110 access points over the 2.85 mile corridor, or about 39 per mile.

After accessing what the current conditions are along the corridor, the report talks about future conditions for the street.

It states future daily traffic volumes in 2025 are estimated to range from 17,900 to 20,600 vehicles per day north of Eastgate Road. At the south end, volumes are estimated to range from 11,600 to 14,500 vehicles per day.

“If the proposed land-use changes are realized over the next 20 years, the increase in traffic volume that is projected to use the corridor suggests the need to plan for increased capacity in most segments of the corridor (i.e. most segments will need to be widened to four-lanes with turn lanes to adequately accommodate future traffic demands),” the report states.

It then went on to divide Bridge Avenue into three different segments to discuss what should be done in those segments. The segments are from Interstate 90 to Hershey Street, from Hershey Street to north of Minnie Maddern Street and from Minnie Maddern Street to Main Street.

For all three segments, it recommended going with a four-lane divided urban design, which accommodates an average daily traffic volume of 28,000 to 32,000 vehicles per day. This number is well above the 2025 projected forecasts.

This decision was also based on other criteria.

The three-lane urban design accommodates for a maximum of 17,000 vehicles per day, while a two-lane design accommodates for 10,000.

In addition, the report includes discussion on what to do about the segment from Bridge Avenue to Main Street on Marshall Street. It said, as part of the study, the realignment of Bridge Avenue to improve its connection to Main Street was considered.

“The realignment of Bridge Avenue to connect Main Street could reduce overall trips use Bridge Avenue to the downtown area,” the report states. “It would also improve intersection operations and safety at the intersection of Bridge Avenue and Marshall Street.”

This part of the project included the possibility of a roundabout at the intersection of Bridge Avenue and Marshall Street.

Lastly, the report talked about eliminating some access points along the road and developing frontage roads instead where feasible.

Construction cost estimations in the report were $7.4 million for a two-lane urban road design, $12.1 million for a three-lane urban design and $20.6 million for a four-lane urban divided road.

The options for Bridge Avenue will be presented at a public meeting at 7 p.m. today at Albert Lea City Hall.