Construction Update

May 5th, 2023

During the week of May 1^st, the Contractor removed the Highway 10 median crossover that previously provided westbound access to Bowers Drive.

During the week of May 8^th, the Contractor will finish the restoration of the new ditch section in Highway 10 where the crossovers previously existed. The new steel cable guardrail will also be installed. Final restoration and remaining sign placement are also proposed to occur along Riverdale Drive.

December 9, 2022

A letter was mailed this morning updating impacted residents about the intersection at Riverdale Drive and Eastbound Highway 10.

This intersection allows for right-in, right-out access to/from eastbound Highway 10. Westbound Highway 10 access to Bowers Drive and Riverdale Drive is provided from the Armstrong Boulevard interchange. 

This project includes removal of the Highway 10 median crossover that previously provided westbound access to Bowers Drive. Due to material shortages, removal of the median crossover and installation of a new steel cable guardrail has been postponed until the Spring of 2023. In the interim, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has directed the city to install a “No U-Turn” sign at the existing median crossover. This sign is anticipated to be installed within the next week or two.  

Marker signs will be also getting placed at the north end of the new Bowers Drive cul-de-sac to warn drivers that the connection to Highway 10 at Bowers Drive was removed and is not permissible.

The City remains committed to working closely and cooperatively with businesses, residents and property owners to minimize impacts during construction. Please contact me at bwestby@cityoframsey.com or 763-433-9825 with questions on this letter or the project in general. For questions related to construction, including special needs or requests, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com.

November 4, 2022

During the week of October 31^st, the Contractor finished placing concrete pedestrian ramps, as well as topsoil and seed in the boulevard areas. The Contractor placed the final lift of bituminous pavement. The watermain trunk line casing under Highway 10 was completed as well. The extension of the trunk watermain through the new casing began and is anticipated to be complete during the week of November 7^th.

During the week of November 7^th, the Contractor is proposed to complete pavement markings and place signage along Riverdale Drive and the new Highway 10 turn lane. After pavement markings and signage is in-place, the right-in / right-out from Riverdale Drive to Highway 10 will be opened. This is anticipated to occur on Tuesday, November 8^th.

The highway 10 crossover removal is proposed to occur during the spring of 2023, due to unavailability of materials. Other remaining work will include the restoration of the areas disturbed from the trunk watermain extension under Highway 10. This restoration will occur over the next several weeks, with final turf establishment anticipated to occur in the spring of 2023. Erosion control measures will remain in-place as necessary until after final turf establishment.

October 28, 2022

During the week of October 24^th, the Contractor finished placing bituminous trail and most of the concrete pedestrian ramps along Riverdale Drive. On Friday, October 28^th, the Contractor paved the turn lane on Highway 10. The turn lane will stay closed until pavement striping occurs.

During the week of October 31^st, the Contractor will finish placing concrete pedestrian ramps, topsoil and seed. The Contractor is proposed to pave the final lift of bituminous Wednesday and Thursday, November 2^nd & 3^rd, weather dependent. Pavement striping will occur the following week, a minimum of 72 hours after paving. Once pavement striping occurs, the streets may be opened to all traffic.

The City remains committed to working closely and cooperatively with businesses, residents and property owners to minimize impacts during construction. Please contact me at bwestby@cityoframsey.com or 763-433-9825 with questions on this letter or the project in general. For questions related to construction, including special needs or requests, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com.

October 25, 2022

Construction of Riverdale Drive from Llama Street to Bowers Drive is anticipated to be complete during the week of November 7th. This extension of Riverdale Drive will provide a new intersection at Riverdale Drive and eastbound Highway 10, replacing the previous access to Highway 10 at Bowers Drive. This new intersection will provide access to/from Riverdale Drive from/to eastbound Highway 10.

Here are directions to help you navigate the road: 

To access westbound Highway 10 from Bowers Drive, take eastbound 148th Avenue to eastbound Riverdale Drive to the Armstrong Boulevard interchange, then use the on-ramp to westbound Highway 10. To access Bowers Drive from westbound Highway 10, use the Armstrong Boulevard interchange off-ramp, then take southbound Armstrong Boulevard to westbound Riverdale Drive to westbound 148th Avenue. 

A letter was mailed to all impacted residents and businesses. Click here for a copy of the letter which includes a map. The enclosed map shows all Bowers Drive access routes from Highway 10, including from the future intersection of Riverdale Drive and eastbound Highway 10. 

The City remains committed to working closely and cooperatively with businesses, residents and property owners to minimize impacts during construction. Please contact me at bwestby@cityoframsey.com or 763-433-9825 with questions on this letter or the project in general. For questions related to construction, including special needs or requests, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com. 

October 17, 2022

During the week of October 10^th, the Contractor prepared the aggregate base for the new bituminous trail from 148^th Avenue to Llama Street.

During the week of October 17^th, the Contractor is scheduled to finish preparing the aggregate base and pave the new bituminous trail. The Contractor will continue working on the new Bowers Drive cul-de-sac, including removal of 3 trees as necessary for the new improvements. The Contractor will also install municipal services and the new culvert at the new Riverdale Drive entrance to Highway 10.

Please contact City project Inspector Aaron Madsen for any questions related to construction, by phone at (763) 286-2579 or email AMadsen@cityoframsey.com.

October 7, 2022

During the week of October 3rd, the contractor placed the first lift of new bituminous pavement from Armstrong Boulevard to Bower Drive. 

Starting October 10th, the contractor will begin removing the Bowers Drive entrance onto Hwy 10. It is anticipated on Wednesday, October 12th, the Bowers Drive entrance will be closed and access to highway 10 will be from the Armstrong Boulevard interchange. 

A letter was delivered to impacted residents and can be seen it here.

The contractor will close direct access to Highway 10 from Bowers Drive on Wednesday, October 12^th.  This will be the only access to Bowers Drive until construction of the right-in, right-out intersection at Riverdale Drive and Highway 10 is completed this Fall, weather permitting.

September 23, 2022

During the week of September 19^th, the Contractor placed concrete curb and gutter from the Armstrong Interchange to the intersection at Highway 10. The connection to highway has not yet been made and is not anticipated to be complete for the next several weeks. Some additional concrete work is still needed and is anticipated to be complete in the coming weeks.

During the week of September 26^th, the Contractor is proposed to shape, compact, and tolerance the aggregate base prior to the first lift of bituminous pavement being placed. This work is expected to take the entire week.

September 16, 2022

During the week of September 12^th, the Contractor finished placing water and sewer services except for services on Bowers Drive. Work has been on going to prep the base material ahead of concrete curb and gutter placement.

During the week of September 19^th, the Contractor is proposed to place concrete curb and gutter from the Armstrong Interchange to Trunk Highway 10. Also, the Contractor will begin placing driveway aprons, though this work is expected to go into the week of September 26^th. Once concrete curb and gutter is placed, the Contractor will begin hauling in the remaining aggregate base.

September 2, 2022

During the week of August 29^th, the Contractor placed the access to the new sanitary sewer lift station. Some components of the lift station control panel have not been delivered, and the lift station cannot become live until they are installed.

Work has begun on the street reconstruction portion of the project, including reclamation of the existing pavement and aggregate base between the Armstrong Interchange and Llama Street.  The existing driveway aprons in this area have also been removed and temporarily ramped for continued access to the adjacent businesses.

During the week of September 5^th, the Contractor is proposed to begin tolerancing the subgrade in the new Riverdale Drive extension between Llama Street and Bowers Drive. After the subgrade has been tolerance, the Contractor will haul and place new gravel. The gravel being used on this project is recycled reclamation material from other City improvements. The Contractor will also be installing water and sewer services east of Llama Street and make required storm sewer improvements in the same area. 

August 19, 2022

During the week of August 22nd, the Contractor is proposed to pour the lift station Pad. The Pad gives access to the lift station manholes covers, as well as the lift station control panel. Once the pad is placed and the concrete cures, the control panel will be placed and hooked up. The lift station is proposed to be in operation on September 1^st. 

On Wednesday, August 17^th, the pre-construction meeting was held for the Riverdale Drive reconstruction and roadway extension project, which is being performed by Douglas-Kerr Underground under a separate contract from the Riverdale Drive utility extension.  A notification letter will be mailed to impacted residents closer to the actual construction start date. Traffic control devices are proposed to be installed Monday, August 22^nd, and construction is proposed to begin Friday, August 26^th. The initial focus of construction will be to finish the Riverdale Drive extension from U.S. Highway 10/169 to Llama Street and make the new connection to Bowers Drive. This is necessary to re-route traffic from Bowers Drive before the access to Highway 10/169 is removed and replaced with a cul-de-sac.

August 5, 2022

The new lift station internal piping and pumps have been installed, the control panel for the lift station is yet to be delivered. It’s anticipated that the lift station will be operational in a month, but this is dependent on delivery of the control panel.

On Friday, July 29^th, Bids were publicly opened for the road construction project. Staff is presenting the lowest responsible bid to City Council on Monday, August 8^th for authorization to award the bid.

July 22, 2022

To date all water main, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer lines and structures have been installed along the extension of Riverdale Drive between Llama Street and Bowers Drive. The new lift station located in the southeast corner of the Riverstone South development has been installed. The lift station internal piping, pumps, and control panels are yet to be delivered and are the only items remaining for the utility extension project.

The new street, including aggregate base, curb and gutter, pedestrian trail, and new bituminous pavement will be constructed under a separate contract and is currently out for bids. This project will include reconstructing the existing Riverdale Drive between the Armstrong Boulevard interchange and Llama Street, extending the new street between Llama Street and Bowers Drive, constructing a right in, right out connection to Trunk Highway 10 with associated improvements on Highway 10, removing the existing Bowers Drive connection to Highway 10 and replacing it with a cul-de-sac.

June 10, 2022

During the previous weeks, the Contractor sub-cut for the new sanitary lift station, located in the southeast corner of the Riverstone South Addition. The Contractor has begun installing storm sewer. Next week the Contractor is anticipating finishing storm sewer construction along the project length.

During the week of June 13^th – 17^th, the lift station is anticipated to be delivered. The lift station sections have been built off-site, construction of the lift station is expected to take 2 – 4 weeks. This does not include the pumps, piping, and control panels for the lift station, which still need to be delivered.

For questions related to the construction, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com.

May 13, 2022

During the week of May 9^th – 13^th, the Contractor finished installing the new force main sanitary sewer. This force main sewer was tied into the new force main sewer constructed with the Riverstone South subdivision. The force main carries sanitary sewer from the proposed lift station, to the gravity trunk sanitary sewer, connecting it to the rest of the City’s sanitary sewer system. The dewatering for the proposed lift station was installed, but the dewatering pumps and generators will not be started for approximately 10-days.

Besides maintaining erosion control measures, no work is proposed on-site during the week of May 16^th – 20^th. The storm sewer structures are currently being built, and will not be ready for installation the week of May 16^th.

For questions related to the construction, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com.

April 29, 2022

During the week of April 25^th – 29^th, the Contractor installed watermain and sanitary sewer between Bowers Drive and the future Snowy Owl Street connection of the Riverstone South Development. A temporary bituminous patch was placed on Bowers Drive after the sanitary sewer manhole was set. Residents should expect this patch to remain in-place until the Riverdale Drive street project begins later this summer. 

During the week of May 2^nd – 6^th, the Contractor is proposing to connect to the existing watermain and sanitary sewer in Riverdale Drive just east of Llama Street, and install the utilities to the west towards Bowers Drive. The Contractor anticipates completing the sanitary sewer along the future Riverdale Drive corridor, but will not complete the watermain. The contractor will begin installing the storm sewer, which is anticipated to takes several weeks to complete. Properties adjacent to Riverdale Drive near Llama Street may have some temporary interruptions while the watermain and sanitary sewer is being connected, and extended to the west past Llama Street.

For questions related to the construction, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com.

April 22, 2022

The contractor will be hauling excess material from the project to the COR area on Friday, April 22 and Monday, April 25.

The contractor will continue sanitary sewer service the week of April 25th.

As always, the City’s goal is to complete construction as quickly as practical once construction begins to minimize impacts to the public.

Construction update letters will be mailed periodically to properties having direct access onto the project. Click here to view Construction Update Letter #1, which was mailed on April 22, 2022. For questions related to the construction, please contact City project inspector Aaron Madsen at 763-286-2579 or amadsen@cityoframsey.com.

March 25, 2022

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, Ramsey City Council awarded a construction contract to Douglas-Kerr Underground L.L.C. of Mora, Minnesota for Improvement Project #22-05, Riverdale Drive Trunk Utility Improvements. At the same time City Council approved a proposal from Bolton & Menk for construction related services for the same project. Improvement Project #22-05 extends trunk water and sanitary sewer between Llama Street and Bowers Drive, as well as constructs a sanitary sewer lift station. Douglass-Kerr’s bid of $2,163,890.22 was the lowest of eleven (11) bids received at the bid opening, which was held on March 11, 2022. Including 23-percent indirect costs for administrative, engineering, finance and legal costs, the total project costs will be about $2,661,585 which is 19.4-percent less than the engineer’s project cost estimate. Bolton & Menk has begun working with Douglass-Kerr to get the required documents in order and set a pre-construction meeting. The project schedule will be determined by Douglass-Kerr, and presented to the City at the pre-construction meeting.

Plans and specifications for Improvement Project #20-05 Riverdale Drive Extension between Llama Street and Bowers Drive are currently under development by Bolton & Menk. Improvement Project #20-05 will construct the new roadway and off street trail, construction is planned to occur in the summer/fall of 2022. In the meantime, please feel free to contact City Engineer Bruce Westby with questions on either project, by email bwestby@cityoframsey.com or by phone at 763-433-9825.

Project Information

The extension of Riverdale Drive between Llama Street and Bowers Drive is needed to support development in the immediate area. During the summer/fall of 2022, Riverdale Drive will be extended between Llama Street and Bowers Drive to provide a safe access route with sufficient capacity to serve the new developments and also the existing residential properties along Bowers Drive.  Click here to view a figure showing the proposed alignment of Riverdale Drive from Llama Street to the new connection to Highway 10, east of Bowers Drive, as well as the new street segment connecting Riverdale Drive to Bowers Drive.  Bowers Drive will be disconnected from Highway 10 to prevent people from accidentally driving south on Bowers Drive after turning off of Highway 10/169. Anyone wishing to access Bowers Drive will instead have to make a decision to turn onto Bowers Drive. This design was driven by comments made by residents of Bowers Drive.  

In March of 2022, Capstone Homes will begin construction on the first phase of Riverstone South, a 244-unit residential development east of Bowers Drive and south of U.S. Highway 10/169.  Future commercial development is also proposed on the parcels between U.S. Highway 10/169 and the proposed extension of Riverdale Drive. These developers are sharing in the costs to extend Riverdale Drive from Llama Street to Bowers Drive, and will pay trunk utility fees upon development to pay their share of the trunk utility improvements serving their developments with sewer and water. 

The trunk utilities will be constructed in advance of the street and trail improvements.  The trunk utility improvement project, Improvement Project #22-05, is currently out for bids with the bid opening scheduled for March 11^th.  The construction plans and specifications for the street and trail improvements, Improvement Project #20-05, are still under development. Updated information on each project will be added to the respective project web page as the projects continue to develop.  In the meantime, please feel free to contact City Engineer Bruce Westby with questions on either project, bwestby@cityoframsey.com or 763-433-9825.