Title
RESOLUTION AMENDING THE CITY’S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, ADOPTING AS APPENDIX F, TWIN PORTS INTERCHANGE COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS EVALUATION PROCESS SUMMARY.
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CITY PROPOSAL:
RESOLVED, that the city council makes the following findings:
(a) The city council adopted the Imagine Duluth 2035 Comprehensive Plan Update on June 25, 2018, via Resolution 18-0240R, which includes recommendations for transportation systems development in the city; and
(b) Chapter 10 of the Imagine Duluth 2035 plan, “Transportation,” includes Policy 6, Strategy 3, which states: “Seek to ensure that reconstruction of the Twin Ports Interchange at US Hwy 53 and Interstate 35 meets the competing needs of freight transportation, safety, and neighborhood connectivity and improvements, particularly in Lincoln Park”; and
(c) Implementation of Policy 6, Strategy 3 of the transportation chapter of the comprehensive plan required further analysis and study by community planning staff and the planning commission in coordination with local stakeholders, regional and statewide agency partners, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation; and
(d) the Twin Ports Interchange Community Connections Evaluation Process Summary document evaluates a range of potential options and community priorities in accordance with the requirements of Imagine Duluth 2035 Transportation Chapter, Policy 6, Strategy 3, with the document having been publicly reviewed, considered, and revised at a series of public meetings, including evaluation by the planning commission at its October 9 and December 11, 2018 meetings.
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Twin Ports Interchange Community Connections Evaluation Process Summary (Attachment 1) is hereby adopted as Appendix F to the Imagine Duluth 2035 Comprehensive Plan.
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the city council extends its gratitude and appreciation to the Minnesota Department of Transportation for its support in conducting further detailed evaluation of improvements to complicated reinvestments planned for infrastructure within the city of Duluth in accordance with adopted city plans.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The Twin Ports Interchange Community Connections Evaluation Process Summary was initiated in partnership between the city of Duluth and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to support a stronger understanding of local plans related to the Twin Ports Interchange (TPI) project through a new MnDOT process known as “Community Connections.” Though the Imagine Duluth 2035 Comprehensive Plan referenced the TPI project, the aspirational statements in the plan lacked the necessarily level of detail for a complete evaluation of two specific questions important to the MnDOT project design process:
1. What specific objectives were most important for connections in and around the TPI project to serve local neighborhood purposes?
2. Why are prioritized actions important to the community, and how could potential solutions result in positive change?
Stakeholder meetings were held throughout the months of October and November to discuss the TPI project and its relationship to the neighborhood. During this process, four primary community connections were established:
1. Connect Lincoln Park and Canal Park
2. Connect Lincoln Park and Downtown
3. Connect I-35 and Lincoln Park (both northbound and southbound)
4. Improve Cross City Trail connections to the neighborhood and across the project area
The Planning Commission reviewed the Twin Ports Interchange Community Connections Evaluation Process Summary at its October and December meetings. At this time, the document is recommended for adoption as an appendix to the Imagine Duluth 2035 Comprehensive Plan. MnDOT plans to conduct further evaluation of measures outlined in the document in early 2019.