TH 47 Transportation Study

Project Description
The Trunk Highway 47 Corridor provides a vital link through Anoka County. Growing population and employment over the past decade has led to increasing traffic volumes along this corridor and paralleling routes. Traffic along some of these routes comes to a standstill during the peak traffic hours. In addition, some features of the roadways do not meet existing design standards, resulting in safety concerns.

Mn/DOT, Anoka County, City of Anoka, City of Ramsey, and Burns Township have joined forces for the TH 47 Transportation Analysis. This study evaluates transportation deficiencies, and will recommend solutions to improve traffic mobility and improve safety while limiting environment impacts and complementing community goals.

About the Corridor
Existing Trunk Highway 47 is a two-lane highway providing vital linkage to population and economic centers in Anoka County. The roadway’s variable geometry (curves and dips) reflects its evolutionary development over time based on changing design standards and differences in the character of land uses along the corridor. Some sections of the highway are limited-access while other sections are city streets with many driveways and commercial accesses.

TH 47 is one of multiple north-south roadways carrying traffic through the project study area. Other roadways include CSAH 5 (Nowthen Boulevard), CSAH 57 (Sunfish Lake Boulevard), and Thurston Avenue. These north-south corridors serve multiple transportation functions, including interregional mobility as well as local community access. Currently, the corridor experiences congestion during the peak travel hours. As traffic volumes increase, it becomes more difficult to serve these multiple and often conflicting functions.

In some areas, the need for improvements can be seen now, while in other areas, these needs will only become apparent as development and traffic continues to grow. The study will evaluate this corridor in order to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations that will address both short-term and long-term improvements.

Study Area
This study covers the area bounded by CSAH 22 (Viking Boulevard) to the north; CSAH 5 (Nowthen Boulevard) and CR 56 (Ramsey Boulevard) to the west; TH 10 to the south; and the Rum River to the east. The study will evaluate the capacity and safety of north-south routes within the study area including TH 47, CSAH 5 (Nowthen Boulevard), CSAH 57 (Sunfish Lake Boulevard), and Thurston Avenue.