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Home My WebLink AboutMANSION PARK - PDP - 24-00B - CORRESPONDENCE -m a m m m v cn Ln l\ A *.airmmimmi Spring Creek Farms o Concept Ske Plan - Option C OeWA NZ7 ARZOOSM cloula r sr"904tm 2ao�caQoAD GCcSs�� ,loC�s7o� . a 11i PF,i #fit Z l �,WIN �i MMMINE ROAD as xas in I& stw.. w.m. ur mft Ta r ws law uwstol mv 54tyrFm* W■mwRodwIb544u=47-w Mau h4wmbn Soft (4O=XGWW&I+l6{iKxZlbWj isadi rt• tm ramimminkft 8618i wE W.W r r 1 TOW 611 & " . AUG-29-2002 THU 10:57 AM PROFESSIONAL OFFICES FAX NO. 3032201818 P. 04 [31 PLATTE RIVER POWER AUTHORITY atOS Park • Fort CoMns • Longmont • Wvefand March 28, 2002 Yis. Jane Donovan HDR Engineering, Inc. 303 Past 17th Avenue, Suite 300 Denver, CO 80203 Re: Spring Creek Farms North Pedestrian Overpass Bridge Dear Ms, Donovan: V. APR 012002 Your latest submittal of the proposed pedestrian overpass has received considerable attention. Numerous calculations were run based upon the information submitted in an effort to determine the severity of conflicts between the proposed facility and Platte River's 2301115 kV electrical transmission line and to determine what mitigation methods might be available. The conflicts can be summarized into basically one thing;,, iolations of clearance required by the National Electrical Safety Code. The proposed location for the pedestrian overpass is to close to the transmission line. It appears from the calculations that the proposed overpass would have to move in the neighborhood of 13.5 feet east of the current proposed location in order to satisfy the code requirements. Code requirements must be maintained for the safety of the public. I wish I could offer you some other solution for an overpass, but I see none with the exception of rebuilding the transmission line in some other location. That would be a very expensive solution. I believe it would be better to consider a trail connection to the north to the existing trail and underpass at Spring Creek Please call me at (970) 229-5311 if you have any questions. Sincerely, PLATTE RIVER POWER AUTHORITY Tom McCormick Sr. System Design Engineer 2000 East Horsetooth Road v Fort Cotlim, Colorado 80525-5721 970/226•4000 • w ..prpaorg AUG-29-2002 THU 10:57 AM PROFESSIONAL OFFICES FAX NO. 3032201818 P. 03 requirements, there would need to be approx. 270' of ramp on each side of the railroad tracks. This would mean that users of an underpass at this location could expect to be .'underground" for approximately 600' (the length of two football fields). Both the developer and members of the City Planning and Transportation Departments felt this situation created an attractive nuisance, serious safety concerns, and would cause the underpass to actually be avoided by the untended users. In addition, the underpass option was cost prohibitive, and no reasonable underpass design alternatives were available. For all of these reasons, the underpass design option was determined to be infeasible. Next, we moved forward with the design of an overpass, coordinating closely with the Rail Road Company in order to ensure their strict design specifications were incorporated into our design. We also met several times with representatives of the City of Fort Collins to ensure they were generally supportive of our overpass design. When the overpass plan was 50% complete we sent it to representatives of the Platt Rive Power Authority. The Power Authority had casements along the west side of railroad corridor that contained their major overhead power distributions lines and support towers. The Power Authority conducted a detailed review of our overpass plans to determine compliance the National Electric Safety Code. The Power Authority determined our overpass was in clear violation of the National Electric Safety Code by violating clearance requirements by 13.5' (see attached letter from the Platt Rive Powcr Authority). Several follow-up discussions and meetings were held with both our design engineers, representatives of the City Planning and Transportation Departments, and representatives of the Power Authority and Rail Road Company to determine if an alternate overpass could be designed to meet the requirements of both the Power Authority and the Rail Road Company. After much exploration of design alternatives, in the end it was determined that no overpass could be designed at this general location that would meet the necessary criteria. Both the developer and City Planning and Transportation Departments ultimately conceded this fact. Please contact me at (303) 741-1113 if you have any questions or need more clarification. C y, Brock Chapman Vice President Cc: Troy Jones, Planning Department AUG-29-2002 THU 10:56 AM PROFESSIONAL OFFICES FAX NO. 3032201818 P. 02 August 29, 2002 Gene Coppola Transportation Engineer P.O. Box 260027 Littleton, CO 80126-0027 The Cumberland Companies, Inc. 6300 South SyroCCAO Way, Suno 293 . Englow000, CO 80111 303/779-9W9 • fox 303/22D-1818 Re: Grade Separated Rail Road Crossing - history and Conclusions Dear Gene: Per your request, I have prepared a historic summary and conclusions concerning the grade separated railroad crossing issue at Spring Creek tarns (now Mansion Park). Early in the project planning process we walked the site with representatives of the City of Fort Collins Planning, Transportation, and Engineering Departments. Representatives of the Rail Road Company and our Design Engineers were also in attendance at this mectin-. The purpose of this on -site meeting was to determine the best location for a grade separated railroad crossing from our proposed community to the City -owned trail located on the western side of the rail road tracks. In addition, all parties wanted to make a preliminary determination on whether to pursue an overpass or underpass crossing design. The general area for the railroad grade separated crossing was determined to be directly between the residential and commercial employment areas of our property toward the north end of our proposed project, and generally aligned with western end of the signalized entry road into our project from Timberline (see attached exhibit for proposed grade separated crossing location). Based on this general location, it was apparent to all experts at the meeting that and underpass would not likely be feasible. The railroad tracks at this general location were situated approx. 10' below existing grade, cutting down into the ground at this location. Going under the railroad tracks at this location would require the floor level of the underpass to be 29' - 30' below existing grade. This was highly problematic for a number of reasons. There is a high water table at this location (10' - 16' below grade). Flooding and proper drainage from ground water and intermittent storm events would be a major problem, as no outfall for water discharge from this low elevation is available. Also, an irrigation ditch was located very near this location, creating a high likelihood of ongoing ditch water seepage problems, Because of handicap accessibility grade AUG-29-2002 THII 10:56 AM PROFESSIONAL OFFICES FAX N0,_3032201818 P. 01 Brock R. Chapman. VG! president The Cumberland Companies. Inc. 8300 S. Syracuse Way. Suite 203 Englewood, CO 80111 (303) 741-1113 phcne (303) 220-1818 fax brockchapman@gwest net To: From: Brock Chapman F= . (o-2o -41 & — zozo Pages: S A Pfionet Date: �'_.zGj . 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