Rochester considers ways to discourage the development of public cul-de-sacs
They’re the sign of urban sprawl and suburban neighborhoods — and if Rochester’s city planners have their way, you won’t be seeing many more new ones.
We’re talking about cul-de-sacs, because the city council will do the same at Wednesday’s study session. A memo from city planners Taryn Edens and Emma Miller-Shindelar outlines plans to regulate the construction of new cul-de-sacs in city limits.
The memo says public cul-de-sacs are costly to the city and a hindrance to community development.
“Cul-de-sacs only serve the lots on the cul-de-sac, and offer no through traffic,” the memo reads. “Thus, not only is the cost to maintain a public cul-de-sac high, all taxpayers contribute to its maintenance, but only the lots on the cul-de-sac benefit from those tax contributions.”
The new recommendations utilize a statistic called connectivity ratio, which measures the ratio between “links” (think streets) and “nodes” (intersections) — values can range from under 1 to 2.5. The required connectivity index score for any new developments would be 1.4, which the planners hope will naturally dissuade developers from creating new cul-de-sacs.
Graphic courtesy the council agenda packet
The discussion comes as the city starts to make efforts on eliminating and preventing new dead ends in Rochester wherever possible, as part of Rochester's comprehensive plan for 2040. Out of the nearly 700 existing dead ends in Rochester today, 545 (over 80 percent) are cul-de-sacs.
In addition to the connectivity issue, the circular roads become a problem in winter months, when snowplows (meant to drive in a straight line) have to clear the cul-de-sac. Truckloads of snow have to come out of these areas after a particularly large snowstorm (in order to keep fire hydrants clear), plus large piles of snow can lead to run-off and localized flooding in the spring.
“If the City wants to continue to have acceptable roadways, we must consider alternatives to help us achieve lower maintenance and infrastructure costs, such as developmental guidelines, which streamline the maintenance and operation process,” the memo said. “Cul-de-sacs consume a disproportional [sic] amount of our city’s maintenance and infrastructure budget. Based on the prior analysis City Administration and City Public Works provided, regulating the development of future cul-de-sacs would greatly reduce these costs.”
Kmart discussion to continue
After the afternoon study session., the council will reconvene at 7 p.m. for its regular meeting. Among the scheduled topics, a continued discussion on the proposed Kmart park-and-ride lot, which was originally tabled on January 6 to allow the property owner and Slatterly Park neighborhood residents time to work through the details of a lease agreement. Mayo Clinic, the developer, and neighbors have gone back and forth on the terms of the deal — more specifically, how long the Kmart site would serve as a temporary park-and-ride. If approved at the council meeting Wednesday, the first tangible sign of construction would come this summer.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
