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  • Orleans City Council Reviews Findings Of 140th Street Study

Orleans City Council Reviews Findings Of 140th Street Study

December 12, 2023 Steve Schwaller

(Orleans)– The Orleans City Council Monday evening reviewed results of the 140th Street Corridor study. 140th Street is a heavily traveled road that goes along the south side of Big Spirit Lake. The study was focused on that part of the road from Peoria Avenue to 260th Avenue and was conducted by the Bolten and Menk engineering firm.

Jen McCoy, a traffic engineer, told the council they reviewed input gathered from the public and identified a number of concerns, including limited visibility and awkward turns at the intersections with Peoria Avenue and 253rd Avenue. She says there also is a relatively high volume of crashes in the western part of the corridor…

“40 percent of the total crashes happened between 240th and Hill, and 30 percent of the total crashes on the corridor resulted in some type of injury, so.”

McCoy added there are also safety concerns at the spillway. She says during a survey they were doing on a Saturday last summer, they witnessed a large number of pedestrians walking across the road in that area, with most of those being children…

“And we counted 116 crossings and almost two-thirds were children crossing at the spillway. The current crossing is not ADA compliant. There aren’t ramps, it’s not straight across, there’s just things. And there’s poor driver yielding. So even when those kids were standing on the side of the road waiting to cross, drivers were not yielding for them, even on a two lane road. Granted, state law is that they need to yield for pedestrians in the cross walk. So standing on the side, technically they’re not breaking the law, but a two lane road at 24 feet wide there should be better yielding behavior than what we’re seeing there.”

A number of options for improvements were presented to the council. One includes a 10 foot wide sidewalk or trail on the north side of 140th Street; another would provide six foot shoulders and a wider width for larger vehicles; while yet another would include three foot shoulders with somewhat narrower lanes to discourage speeding. Several options were also presented for the intersection of 140th Street and Peoria Avenue, including a round-a-bout. An option for the intersection at 253rd would result in that corner becoming a T intersection with a stop sign for 253rd Avenue traffic. A pedestrian crossing signal could also be an option for some areas along the corridor, including the crossing at the spillway. The council took no action Monday evening. They will further review the study and recommended options. A timeline calls for the preparation of a concept plan to share with the public in early 2024 with a more detailed design for the portion of 140th Street from Peoria Avenue to Hill Avenue in January or February, 2024. City officials say time is of the essence for that part of 140th Street due to the deteriorating pavement in that area.

On another note, Monday’s meeting was the final one for council members Terry Wilts and Kristine Hoss. Each was presented with a plaque thanking them for their service (see photo below. Hoss wasn’t present for the photo).

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