Eden Prairie City Council to delay new road

Eden Prairie's Riverview Road gets a reprieve from a city-style reconstruction after neighborhood residents appeal to the city.

By LAURIE BLAKE, Star Tribune
Last update: May 27, 2009 - 1:39 PM

Eden Prairie's Riverview Road will get a coating of new black top this year but not a modern upgrading with curb, gutter and sidewalk.

The Eden Prairie City Council voted 3 to 2 last week to postpone the more extensive reconstruction until the area fully develops and the city has had time to stop bluff-line erosion caused by rain running off the street.

The segment, between Homeward Hills Road and Parker Drive in southern Eden Prairie, carries 2,500 to 3,000 cars a day at the crest of a bluff near the Minnesota River. The city's Public Works Department recommended bringing it up to modern standards to improve driver and pedestrian safety.

But residents along the stretch argued that Eden Prairie has turned all but 10 miles of its original rural roads into curb-and-gutter, urban-style streets and that Riverview should be saved as a picturesque, curving country half-mile.

After a public hearing last week, Council Members Cathy Nelson, Ron Case and Jon Duckstad voted to delay the street's reconstruction indefinitely and instead repave the section of street this year.

Nelson said future development would likely tear up the road if it were reconstructed now, so it makes sense to wait. In the meantime, she suggested enjoying the pretty road. "It would be nice if somebody would sprinkle some wildflower seeds along it," she said.

While Case favored putting off the reconstruction, he said the erosion problems along the bluff area should be addressed immediately. Duckstad favored the blacktopping alternative as a way to save money.

Mayor Phil Young voted against delaying the reconstruction, saying it felt like passing the buck to a future council. "What I haven't heard yet tonight is how the problem with this road gets better if we push it off to another council to make the decision.''

Council Member Brad Aho also opposed the temporary fix, saying that resurfacing it now and reconstructing it later would cost more than a single improvement. "I think we would be better served to do it right the first time.''

Aho also predicted that speeds on the road will increase once it's resurfaced, creating a hazard for pedestrians because that section of road has no sidewalk.

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711