Council green-lights moving Windsor Apartments driveway west to reduce conflict at 63rd and University

Jennifer McCoy of Bolton & Menk told the Windsor Heights City Council the measured sight distance for the proposed Windsor Apartments driveway is about 290 feet — short of the 300-foot guideline — and that peak-hour queueing on 63rd Street often stretches roughly 500 feet, creating conflict points if the driveway remained aligned with 64th Street. “The required sight distance is 300 feet and the measured sight distance is 290,” McCoy said, describing why she and the consultant team favor moving the driveway west and adding a raised median to make 64th Street right-in/right-out.

The staff presentation laid out three options: maintain full access now and revisit later; shift the driveway west without a median and rely on signage or time-of-day restrictions; or shift the driveway and install a raised median to reduce overlapping left-turn conflicts and to allow a longer eastbound left-turn storage lane at 63rd. Staff reported the developer has acquired an access easement on the adjoining parcel at 6410 University Avenue and indicated willingness to pay for a raised median if the council directs that approach.

Council members and residents pressed for crash detail and transparency about prior votes. Staff said there were six crashes in the cluster over two years, five of them rear-end collisions and two resulting in minor injuries; more granular time-of-day data are available from Iowa crash tools and will be used for ongoing monitoring. Councilmember Lauren Campbell raised concerns that the current plan differed from what had been communicated earlier to residents and to council, saying it was “not what we told people we’re going to do” and urging better notice for neighbors.

After discussion about tradeoffs and interim measures (signage or limited-turn restrictions), council signaled consensus to shift the Windsor access west now to preserve the option to install a raised median later. Staff said the shift would retain flexibility to extend a median or pursue joint access further west if additional properties are acquired; staff also committed to continued coordination with the developer and the city of Des Moines on shared patrol and cost-sharing possibilities. The developer’s target opening was noted as mid-summer of next year.

The council did not adopt a specific engineered design or a binding funding commitment for a raised median at this meeting; instead it directed staff to advance easement coordination, study short-term traffic controls, track crash statistics, and return with implementation details and proposed monitoring timelines (including an evaluation point at the end of a three-year period).