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.

"Right now we have trespassing across our property at that site for the construction that's going on," Anderson said. "In the real world, you are going to have a problem there."

Lawyer Peter Coyle, who represents Anderson, sent a letter to commissioners on Monday and drew their attention to it at Tuesday's meeting. The letter asks the county not to close the driveway and continues by saying that business owners will seek compensation if the driveway is closed.

No lawsuit has been filed, but at least one commissioner sensed one in the works.

"You can certainly sue the county and whoever it is you think should be sued," Commissioner Tom Egan, also a lawyer, said.

Egan said he had tried to keep an open mind throughout the prolonged discussion of the driveway, but he ultimately agreed with the recommendations of county staff.

The discussion on Tuesday was the third time this summer that the board members have discussed the access, despite the fact that the corridor layout was adopted in March.

Commissioner Will Branning, whose district includes the businesses, put the item on the agenda and moved to change plans and keep the driveway open, but only for right-hand turns into the strip mall. Exiting from that driveway would be prohibited.

Egan offered a second to the motion to open the topic for public discussion, saying, "For that reason, and that reason only, I'm going to second the motion."

At the conclusion of the public comments, Egan withdrew his second and Branning's motion fizzled.

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056