Despite another plea from business owners -- and a letter from a lawyer -- the Dakota County board stood by its decision to close a driveway to a strip mall on Cedar Avenue to make way for bus rapid transit.
The owners of Midas and the landlord of the building that houses Jiffy Lube in Apple Valley have repeatedly argued that the county's decision will hurt their businesses, which rely on drive-by traffic.
But county staff members working on the bus rapid transit project have said the access point would be a safety hazard and run contrary to plans to keep traffic flowing along the north-south artery.
"This corridor, the lifeline that it is, carries enough traffic to be a freeway," Mark Krebsbach, the county transportation director, said. "The real element of handling that traffic is the access management."
The county plan to prepare Cedar Avenue for bus rapid transit includes modifications to many intersections along the road and closures of 15 access points from Apple Valley down through Lakeville.
The driveway in question, about 700 feet north of 155th Street, would draw right-turning drivers into the shoulder lane for buses approaching the Apple Valley Transit Station. The county says that would be a safety hazard and remove the advantage for buses running in the shoulder lane. There are two other entrances to the strip mall that includes Midas and the Jiffy Lube: one on 155th Street and one from behind on Whitney Drive.
Those entrances aren't obvious enough, Midas co-owner Mark Stranick said, adding that even repeat customers are unaware of them.
And John Anderson, owner of the building that houses Jiffy Lube, said a new transit station, currently under construction, will also lead to trespassing problems. A skyway stretching over Cedar from the station on the east side of the road will cause bus riders to congregate near and trespass on the businesses' property, he said.
