A reader submitted the following question for Eden Prairie Public Works Director Gene Dietz:

“Why is there a section of Dell Road near Highway 212 that is still gravel and never been paved? Are there plans to improve it?”

This is his response:

The geometrics of this section of Dell Road are very poor – steep grades, fairly sharp curves, narrow roadway, steep ditches and poor sight distances in some locations. Merely paving the existing surface would both increase the number of vehicles using the roadway and encourage a higher speed – thereby reducing safety and increasing the number of accidents as well as the severity. We have been engaged in preliminary discussions with residents adjacent to Dell Road, but have met with a great deal of concern. First of all, constructing a roadway to meet minimum safety and design standards will result in significant grading and tree loss. The residents are also concerned about elevating the importance of the roadway, which would encourage higher traffic volumes. Also, a significant issue is the cost and who will pay for the improvement. With the exception of county and state highways, it is the policy of the city that adjacent property owners pay for the street and utility improvements in front of their property (subject to a maximum cap). This policy has always been the case and city streets have either been installed by private developers during the subdivision process, in which case the cost of the improvements has been wrapped into the cost of the new homes; or the city has gone through a special assessment process for construction and payment by adjacent property owners. The rather spectacular environmental beauty of this area of Eden Prairie that is the result of the Riley Creek Valley and the bluff overlooking the Minnesota River team together to create a very difficult design challenge and extraordinary costs for construction. It is likely that the city will find it necessary to increase our participation in the cost of the improvements, but identifying a viable project that can create a sense of compromise on the important issues will take a significant amount of time and process to accomplish.

Wondering about a road change? Concerned about a pothole? Have a question about Eden Prairie’s snowplowing? If you’d like to submit a question for Mr. Dietz, please e-mail it to editor@edenprairienews.com.