Changing Demographic and Transportation Trends
April 3, 2008
Brownton Community Center
Input from roundtable discussions following presentations by: State Demographer, MnDOT Regional Planner, Planning and Zoning Administrators from McLeod and Carver Counties, and McLeod County Highway Engineer. (Dowload the presentation- demographics-mcleod-county-april-2008)
Strengths of the future demographic growth and proposed plans for the highway corridors
• Developments by communities
• Emphasis on future, long-range planning for cities, counties
• Better planning – long term land management
• Collaboration with state- open communication
• Collaborative planning between levels of government (state-region-local)
• Growth of county
• Combine process/efficiencies (cost sharing)
• Value of regional planning (multi modal transportation)
• Strength in numbers and shared resources
Challenges/concerns for the county because of these changes
• Raising revenue without raising taxes – get the legislature to work within their budget
• How do you convince people to develop near towns (and live there) – farmers’ rights to sell (major profit your retirement income)
• Turf issues: Who has jurisdiction? Who establishes priorities?
• Hwy 212/15 expansion project of 8 to 10 years
• Protecting corridors; Committing state to keep an eye on corridors
• Limited financial resources; long term financial planning
• Highway 7 constraints
• A stronger, more unified voice at St. Paul
• Reaching consensus
• Shared goals and commitments (future focus)
Recommendations as the county moves forward on long term transportation plans
• MnDOT – a bypass for Hwy 22 around Glencoe on west side
• Investigate a railroad crossing control on County Road 25 into Brownton
• Consider a better control at Hwy 212/15 – sensing stoplight or bridge
• Tougher zoning
• More citizen input during planning – look for themes – make them feel welcome
• Develop a multi-faceted transportation system – trails/safety/accessibility – to promote active lifestyle
• Adopt countywide right-of-way preservation/access management (i.e. Plato)
• Update county comp plan (parallel with cities) (region)
• Ongoing multi-jurisdiction cooperative meetings
• Reach out to western metro for cooperation and assistance
Questions that policy makers need to address
• What is driving or causing the demand for travel? (ie. commuting, shipping, etc)
• What is the overall plan for the state’s transportation system and funding
• How well do we understand all the issues and needs of communities?
• Who will be paying the costs incurred by the impacts of changing demographics?