Roseville Reconstruction Projects on Rice Street and County Road B-2 Move Forward

Reconstruction projects on Rice Street and County Road B-2 will bring more sidewalks and more left-hand turn-lanes at intersections to Roseville by 2013.

Ramsey County officials presented preliminary plans for the projects last week to the the Roseville City Council.

The roads have average traffic rates of about 15,000 vehicles a day and have not seen improvements since the 1980s.

Plans for County Road B-2 construction are farther along than those of Rice Street, and Ramsey County traffic engineer Erin LaBeree said the project’s cost was estimated at $9.5 million, of which Roseville would pay about $700,000.

Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2013.

“We believe we can get the road project done in one construction season,” Ramsey County project manager Jerry Auge said. “As part of the project we would keep the roadway open to local businesses.”

While cost estimates are not yet available for the Rice Street project, the lack of federal funds for the project will pass on to Roseville the cost of sidewalks, colored concrete, burying private utilities, and street lights.

Both projects will replace the bituminous macadam with a concrete roadway. LaBeree said that bituminous prices are nearly as high as those for concrete and that concrete is cheaper to maintain.

“The long-term benefits of concrete we thought would make it worth the cost to do this project in concrete,” she said.

Along County Road B-2, the intersections with Fairview and Snelling avenues will be widened to make room for additional turn-lanes.

Council member Jeff Johnson expressed concern that the widening of B-2 near Fairview looked “fairly aggressive,” especially near the BP gas station, and LeBeree said that BP has been resistant to granting an easement, saying the reconstruction will affect their ability to do business.

Council member Tammy McGehee said she was worried that the intersections did not provide enough allowances for pedestrian safety.

“We’re going into a lot of effort to put in all these signalized intersections, but we don’t have any way for people to get out of the Roseville parking lot safely to get all the way to Roseville Commons,” she said. “Now we have the sidewalk, but what good is it?”