Farmington Area Transportation Study - Dakota County
Dakota County and the City of Farmington in cooperation with the Farmington School District identified the importance of studying the arterial roadway system needs associated with the future growth that was anticipated in the Farmington area due to residential and commercial growth and the new high school. Bolton & Menk was retained by Dakota County to refine the traffic control implications of corridor access management, prepare a detailed understanding of the traffic implications of the new high school and impending development, conduct operations analyses, and prepare an implementation plan to accommodate future traffic to 2010 and 2030. The plan analyzed the area's transportation network and recommended improvements and plans for the arterial roadways to handle traffic in the future.
The study was split into three distinct areas including a traffic impact analysis for the new high school and impending development, network analysis to review and evaluate the future functional classification and spacing of the roadways within the northwest area of the City of Farmington, and a corridor analysis to evaluate future 2030 operations.
Evaluation of short and long term issues was completed to build an understanding and consensus on the possible solutions that preserved mobility, provided access, and increased safety at the intersections and along the corridors. This was achieved in the short term through intersection improvements. Through the long term, this will be achieved through a vision of corridor access and traffic control alternatives, together with a supporting transportation network. A significant effort of the study was to determine the types of access and access locations along Pilot Knob Road. There was a focus on public participation as well as the technical evaluation process. The purpose of public participation was to reach understanding and agreement throughout the study process. Long-term access alternatives continue to be developed.