City Council Item

The city's Pavement Management Program (PMP) identifies projects to rehabilitate public streets across the city. The five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) identifies the near-term streets to be rehabilitated. For 2027, there are multiple projects broken up into four distinct projects, including rehabilitating approximately 1.0 mile of Bluff Creek Drive between Hwy 212 and CSAH 61 (Flying Cloud Drive).

Bluff Creek Drive is an older corridor; historical aerial imagery indicates that the original gravel road existed prior to 1937. The earliest City record drawings for the street date to 1988, which was when curb and gutter was installed. The last major rehabilitation occurred in 1997 and consisted of a six-foot edge mill and overlay, followed by sealcoating in 2005. The street is classified as a Major Collector and is part of the city's Municipal State Aid (MSA) system.

A specific project webpage is found on the city's website at this location:
https://www.chanhassenmn.gov/government/projects/street-projects/bluff-creek-drive-rehabilitation-project

Interested or affected individuals can subscribe to the distribution list in order to receive project updates at this location:
https://www.chanhassenmn.gov/i-want-to/subscribe

As of October 21, 2026, there are 313 email addresses subscribed to receive project updates for this project.

Staff utilized the City's Pavement Management Program and site investigations to determine the project limits as shown in the attached 5-year CIP map representing the years 2026 through 2030. Bluff Creek Drive was separated from the other 2027 project areas due to its MSA designation and thus is easier to manage as a standalone project.

The Bluff Creek Drive pavement has an OCI of 40 which indicates rehabilitation via a full depth reclamation (FDR) is the appropriate technique. Soil borings and pavement cores were also taken to verify existing pavement thickness and subgrade conditions, which also identified an FDR as prudent rehabilitation at this time.

City Staff hosted an Open House for the project on October 13, 2026. City and consultant staff were present to answer questions from the public and comment cards were made available for written thoughts. Sixteen people signed in, which can be viewed as a well-attended event for the small scale and limited number of adjacent properties for this project. The feedback was generally supportive of the project and the typical questions about scope, schedule, assessments, and construction impacts were discussed. Beyond those types of discussions, two main themes were prevalent:

   1. Traffic Safety

   2. Why not a full reconstruction project and addition of a trail

Concerning traffic safety, the project will evaluate and incorporate targeted improvements as appropriate, including:

• Driver speed feedback signs
• Curb extensions, or bump-outs, at strategic locations
• Vegetation clearing to improve sight distance
• Supplemental warning signs and potential grade changes at the horizontal curve near the regional trail crossing
• Striping fog lines to establish 11-foot drive lanes
• Pedestrian crossing improvements at the regional trail
• Consideration of a mini roundabout at the Hess Farm Road intersection

Something the city cannot incorporate in a pavement project is somehow restricting heavy truck traffic from using the corridor. As noted, Bluff Creek Drive is a designated Major Collector roadway, an MSA route, and is open for public use. It is a regional transportation corridor and therefore limiting its use would not align with MSA rules or the overall transportation system in the region. Overweight and speeding enforcement are strategies to implement to minimize the effects of truck traffic.

An intersection improvement at Hess Farm Road was a topic of discussion. Staff has proposed studying the inclusion of a mini roundabout at this location with the project. This would accomplish many of the traffic safety goals for the project and appears to be a worthy improvement for consideration. A full-sized roundabout would require acquiring permanent public right of way which is not part of the rehabilitation project scope, but a mini roundabout does appear to be feasible. The rough order of magnitude cost of including a mini roundabout is $275,000. West Farm Road and Hess Farm Road are both private roads, each under the control of an HOA. Coordination and approval of the HOA's will be needed to move ahead with a roundabout improvement at the intersection.

Concerning a larger reconstruction project and adding the trail, there is no public sanitary sewer or watermain in this part of the city. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan shows future public utility extensions in the corridor; however, development demand is the key driver for that to occur. There is a gap in the trail system along the majority of the corridor. And although filling this gap a long-term goal, installing a trail would require invasive grading, retaining walls, and the potential for right of way acquisition, and are beyond the scope of an FDR rehabilitation. For these reasons, implementing a larger reconstruction project is not recommended at this time, as the current primary need is merely rehabilitating the pavement surface. A larger full reconstruction project is not budgeted or programmed, and when that time comes, the city will look toward funding grants to help with the cost burden.

The MN River Bluffs Regional Trail intersects Bluff Creek Drive within the project limits. The trail is owned and operated by Carver County, and they have improvements planned for the trail in the near future. The opportunity presented itself by the Bluff Creek Drive rehabilitation to complete the two projects together. As such a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) has been prepared and is on tonight's Council agenda for approval, conditioned on the Council ordering the street project to move forward. This JPA will allow the trail scope of work to be designed and constructed with the street project, and the county will reimburse the city for all costs associated with that added work. This is a cost-effective way to manage the projects, shows a cooperative working relationship between two governmental agencies, and will result in an improved crossing of Bluff Creek Drive. The street project can move ahead without the trail work if that ends up being the direction of the Council.

As with all street rehabilitation projects, and per policy, assessments are proposed for this project. Being an FDR, this project proposes the Flat Rate methodology resulting in an estimated assessment of $5,300 for each benefitting property. Final assessments will be determined and considered for adoption by the City Council at the future Assessment Hearing, planned to be held in February 2027.

The remaining project schedule is as follows:

Staff recommends ordering the project, and does support including the mini roundabout at the Hess Farm intersection.