Cedar Avenue relief for some is a pain for others

Changes to Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley could include medians on 147th and 153rd streets that would cut off some entrances to stores and restaurants.

That sparked a skirmish this month between the Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce and transportation planners, who are speaking today at a Chamber luncheon to explain the reasons behind the medians and to hear from business owners.

The medians would be part of $100 million in work planned to improve bus service and relieve congestion on Cedar. A plan approved by Dakota County in January calls for reducing access or removing signals at some intersections in Apple Valley and Lakeville by 2015, with work north of 160th Street slated for 2010. By 2030, the plan envisions overpasses at three intersections.

Business owners have worried for years about how work on Cedar would affect customer access, particularly the overpasses planned at 140th Street and County Roads 42 and 46.

"We're just trying to keep a freeway from going through downtown, because we've got basically a built-up downtown," said Chamber president Ed Kearney, who called the medians an engineering "overreaction."

The medians -- a small piece of the puzzle -- irked some people because project plans didn't previously include them, he said.

"We're just really suspicious right now of what the county is trying to do here, after such good relations for the last three years," Kearney said last week.

And some businesses fear that eliminating a convenient access point would be enough to keep many customers away. "I'm thinking it'll cut our business at least by a third," said Susan Bundy, manager of Caribou Coffee at 147th Street.

"What we're doing is unveiling details of the project as we learn them," said Scott McBride, a planning consultant hired by the county to manage the Cedar Avenue project.

Before the county chose its preferred alternative for the corridor, he said, it didn't make sense to nail down every detail. "You simply can't afford the time and the resources, particularly money, to go into all the details associated with all of those alternatives."

But Cedar Avenue traffic simulations done since January show "fairly long lines" of cars backed up on 153rd and 147th streets that block frontage roads during rush hour, McBride said, making medians advisable to cut down on crashes.

The medians would restrict left turns into the parking lots of many local businesses. Customers driving to stores such as Cub Foods, Walgreen's, Target and Best Buy might have to detour around a median on 153rd Street east of Cedar. And two medians proposed on 147th Street -- one on each side of Cedar -- could redirect traffic around businesses such as Applebee's, Old Chicago, two gas stations and Wings Financial.

Concern about the plans drew 45 business representatives to meetings held last week with Cedar project planners. In response, planners may shorten the medians on 147th Street to restore some access, McBride said. Dakota county, and the city of Apple Valley, which maintains the streets, will probably make decisions about the medians by the end of April, he said.

But more surprises could be in store for local businesses -- and planners will continue to gather input -- as work on Cedar moves forward, said McBride.

"Each subsequent phase gets into more detail, and that will go all the way through construction."

Sarah Lemagie • 952-882-9016