Trunk Highway 65 Improvements at 99th Avenue Project

The project serves an area much greater than just the City of Blaine due to its use as a primary route for employment and commercial traffic from out-state Minnesota to Minneapolis and St Paul.  The project will better connect residents and businesses along the TH65 corridor, resulting in a more cohesive community. The addition of a frontage road system along the west side of TH 65 will also improve access to goods and to the roadway for residences and commercial businesses. From a bicycle and pedestrian perspective, crossings of TH 65 will no longer be at-grade and will include a trail facility, improving safety and comfort for crossing. In the hybrid freeway alternatives, the numerous bike/pedestrian-only crossings will reduce conflict points with vehicles. With an estimated 2,050 trucks per day, TH 65 serves as one of the key highway corridors connecting the Minneapolis-St. Paul urban core with the businesses and communities in the north metro. This highlights the importance of the intersection in providing reliable, safe, and efficient freight transportation connections between businesses in the urban core, TH 65 businesses, and other freight destinations to the north. Average peak hour travel speed through this corridor is only 30 mph. Even under free flow conditions, the average travel speed is only 47 mph. Truck trips are especially impacted by the presence of signalized intersections due to their slower acceleration and deceleration times. The frequent stopping and starting also increases wear and tear on vehicles.

The Minnesota Trunk Highway 65 at 99^th Avenue – Grade Separated Intersection Project (Project) is part of the Trunk Highway 65 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study area.  The project will construct a grade-separated intersection to improve the flow of traffic, expand access for multiple modes of transportation, and improve safety for vehicles traveling along and across the highway corridor, as well as safe bike and pedestrian passage.

• The purpose of the TH 65 Improvements Project is to improve motorized traffic flow along and across TH 65, thereby decreasing average travel times and reducing delays, reduce crash frequencies along the corridor, and create an environment where pedestrians and bicyclists are safer and are able to conveniently access destinations across and along the TH 65 corridor safely. 
• Safety along this corridor is most closely related to the congestion from the high volume of vehicles using the corridor.  The proposed improvements to TH 65 will improve crossing times and safety for all users. 
• Today, drivers crossing TH 65 often have to wait in long queues to cross or get onto the roadway. The project will substantially improve travel conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists with the addition of the adjacent travel path and the improvement in overall configuration. Creating these conditions will better connect residents and businesses on opposite sides of the corridor, resulting in a more cohesive community. 
• A properly working frontage road system is vital to the performance of any highway system through a developed area by providing lower speed access to residential and commercial areas. 
• From a bicycle and pedestrian perspective, crossings of TH 65 will no longer be at-grade and will include a trail facility, improving safety and comfort for crossing. In the hybrid freeway alternatives, the numerous bike/pedestrian-only crossings will reduce conflict points with vehicles.

• City of Blaine Proposal
• Congressman Emmer Financial Disclosure

• Letters of Support

City of Blaine

10801 Town Square Drive

Blaine, MN 55449