Tonight: Minnetonka City Council to Discuss Shady Oak Road

On Monday night, the Minnetonka City Council will discuss a resolution approving preliminary layout for the Shady Oak Road project from Excelsior Boulevard to north of Highway 7.

The recommendation by city staff is to adopt the resolution, which will need four votes to pass.

The meeting on Monday, March, 26 begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at

Hennepin County has requested the Minnetonka City Council consider adopting the resolution approving a revised preliminary layout of the project. The Hopkins City Council also received an identical request from Hennepin County and .

An was hosted on Jan. 24. City and county staff presented the revised layout to the property and business owners and reviewed the changes between the 2006 layout and the current layout.

Officials at that meeting said that the project is necessary due to pedestrian and traffic issues. However, some business and home owners impacted by the project thought the bigger reason for the project was the promise of $7.2 million in federal funds.

The project is expected to cost a total of $21,051,124. Federal funds will cover $7,280,000. The city of Minnetonka's share is $2,770,626, and the city of Hopkins will pay $2,855,755. The rest of the funding comes from Hennepin County, with a small portion coming from MnDOT.

If the council approves the preliminary layout, staff anticipates the project schedule to generally be as follows:
• Right of way agreement with cities, Spring 2012
• Environmental process: March–Nov. 2012
• Property acquisition: Nov. 2012–Dec. 2013
• Construction plan completion: Fall 2013
• Start construction: Spring 2014
• Complete construction: Fall 2015