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Appendix A pertains to TRS 1207, Collecting and Managing Traffic Data on Local Roads. It contains survey responses for the Initial Survey of Statewide Participants in MnDOT's Traffic Data Collection Program.

Appendix B pertains to TRS 1207, Collecting and Managing Traffic Data on Local Roads. It contains survey responses for the Greater Minnesota supplemental survey.

Currently, many townships, cities and some rural counties do not have entrance policies and design standards. This report provides rationale on why access should be managed in rural areas. It also identifies fundamental planning principles, design guidelines and best management practices for lower-volume rural roadways. Additional information sources for developing or refining local policies are included. The study reviewed literature, conducted a survey of rural Minnesota counties, townships and cities and identified the following best management practices (BMPs): (1) Establish a formal access policy to determine the need and evaluate use, location and design of requested access points; (2) Encourage coordination during the zoning and platting process; (3) Adopt a policy that grants access for a specific use. If this use should change, a new access permit would be required; (4) Encourage adequate spacing of access points; (5) Protect the functional area of intersections in order to separate conflict areas (typically 480 to 820 feet from the intersection); (6) Ensure adequate sight distance at entrances; (7) Avoid offset or "dogleg" intersections and entrances; (8) Encourage turn lanes and bypass lanes (on higher speed roadways); (9) Consider providing shared access or relocating existing access; and (10) Encourage good driveway and intersection design characteristics.

This report was produced for the Local Road Research Board (LRRB) and provides a summary of the use of recycled asphalt pavement within Minnesota. Included in this report is: (1) A synthesis of a manual produced by the Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association (ARRA) and endorsed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) titled the Basic Asphalt Recycling Manual (BARM). The BARM provides a complete summary of various recycling techniques and the process for conducting a recycling project. (2) A Summary of a survey that was distributed to cities and counties throughout Minnesota. This survey was distributed to gather input on the amount of asphalt recycling done in Minnesota. Survey results are discussed throughout the report with a complete overview in the report appendix.

Bridge-approach guardrail provides protection for vehicles from collision with bridge components, such as the blunt end of the bridge rail or abutment, and other types of run-off-the-road collisions. The primary objective of this research was to determine the average daily traffic (ADT) at which the benefit/cost ratio for the installation of approach guardrail at county-state-aid (CSAH) bridges in Minnesota becomes greater than 1.0. A survey of state transportation agencies found that 26 of 35 responding agencies have policies or guidelines requiring placement of approach guardrail on any bridge if the bridge was built using state funds. Results of the research analyses showed that bridge-approach guardrail was effective at reducing the severity of run-off-the-road crashes occurring on the approach or departure to CSAH bridges. Fatalities and A-injury crashes accounted for only 6 percent of the crashes occurring at bridges with approach guardrail compared to 28.5 percent at bridges without approach guardrail. The subsequent benefit/cost analysis showed that bridge-approach guardrail is cost-effective (i.e., B/C > 1) for CSAH bridges with ADT greater than or equal to 300 vehicles per day (vpd). Overall, approach guardrail has a benefit/cost ratio of approximately 3.5 to 5.5. The researchers recommended that the ADT threshold for approach guardrail on CSAH bridges be set at 400 vpd, which is consistent with previous Mn/DOT standards and AASHTO low-volume local road guidelines. Approach guardrail should be considered on a case-by-case basis for bridges with ADT between 150 and 400 vpd, especially those between 300 and 400 vpd. Placement of approach guardrail at bridges with ADT less than 150 vpd is not cost-effective in most cases.

Joining forces in a partnership relationship is a way for different entities to come together and, building on their respective strengths and abilities, realize together what they could never have realized separately. Although partnership relationships are typically a profitable means for local governments to explore in implementing projects, they become even more compelling when resources are limited and multiple needs compete for scarce available dollars. This paper explores the use of partnerships in Minnesota to advance needed public works projects. It discusses some of the nuances of what partnerships can mean to local units of government, from the ways in which bartering of services, equipment, and staff expertise allows local units of government to make efficient resource decisions to how major public works projects can be implemented through the concerted efforts of interested partners. Through the use of focus group discussions, selected case studies, and the expertise of the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) overseeing this effort, a best practices guide to Minnesota city and county partnering efforts results.

This report documents the efforts of engaging the public in decision making regarding local road policy issues in Minnesota, specifically in Beltrami, Dakota, and Jackson counties, and make recommendations based on the findings.

This project examines the link between accumulated transportation capital stocks in Minnesota counties and their annual property tax revenues using longitudinal data in the 1995-2011 period. We separated the effects of two different transportation capital stocks, one associated with load roads and the other with trunk highways. In addition, we considered not only the internal effect of transportation investments within a county, but also the spillover effect due to transportation investments made in neighboring counties. Estimations from panel-data regressions show that local-road capital stocks within a county have a positive effect on its property tax revenues, with an elasticity of 0.093, but much of the benefits may be the outcome of a zero-sum game due to inter-local competition of property tax bases. Trunk-highway capital stocks within a county also show a positive effect, with an elasticity of 0.013. The spillover effect of trunk-highway development is even higher: The average level of trunk-highway capital stocks in neighboring counties has a positive elasticity of 0.030 on a county's property tax revenues. Applying the estimations to the county data in FY2010, we calculated the ROI (return of investment) of additional transportation investments on property tax bases. The average ROI on the growth of EMV (Estimated Market values) within a county is about 1.254 for local roads, and about 0.871 for trunk highways. The regional impact would be reduced for local roads due to the inter-local competition, but significantly amplified for trunk highways due to spillover benefits.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation's (MnDOT) concrete pavement design procedure, RigidPave, is based on the 1981 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Interim Guide and is entirely empirically-based. The American Cement Pavement Association (ACPA) developed StreetPave based on the Portland Cement Association (PCA) thickness design method with updated information, including a new fatigue model. This study compared RigidPave to StreetPave with a review of the input variables and design inputs used by surrounding departments of transportation. Existing thin (six inches or less) concrete pavements were also evaluated, which included both city and county pavements and test cells at MnROAD. There are two primary differences between the RigidPave and StreetPave: 1) traffic is handled differently and 2) the underlying design methodology. Both are based on time-tested and proven design methodologies and provide generally similar designs. The predicted design lives of the doweled low-volume cells at MnROAD appear to be similar using either StreetPave or RigidPave. The examples provided by cities and counties typically did not contain enough known information, and therefore, required too many assumptions for analysis. The authors recommend that StreetPave is added as an alternate concrete pavement thickness design procedure for city and county projects in Minnesota. Use of the StreetPave is currently allowed by the Virginia Department of Transportation for design of secondary roads. It was also determined that RigidPave has a built-in reliability of approximately 89% due to a factor of safety that is applied to the modulus of rupture. An alternate approach to allowing StreetPave as a design option would be to incorporate the reliability knowledge of RigidPave learned as part of this project.

This report describes the work conducted across the State of Minnesota to determine if an update to the distribution of the classification of vehicles on the County State Aid Highway (CSAH) system is needed. The data were collected across the state, representing many regions, and in all seasons (although very few counts were conducted during winter). The results of this investigation include the development of updated vehicle classification tables for pavement design on the CSAH system, a manual for counties to use when conducting individual vehicle classification counts for pavement design, and a new view of the distribution of vehicle types on the CSAH system, which has not been systematically counted for many years. The results of this study indicate that the vehicle classification distributions on the CSAH system (and likely the county road system) should be updated with new default values to reflect current traffic. In addition, improved information and training should be offered to local agencies to help improve estimates of vehicle classification for pavement design.