Construction season

Major road work lies ahead for Minot area

By JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews
Tis the season of the flaggers, orange cones and reduced traffic speeds.


North Broadway reconstruction already is in progress, and more construction lies ahead for the Minot area this summer.


Construction on the $5.2 million North Broadway project between Fourth and University avenues will continue through October. That section of Broadway will close today for underground improvements and will reopen for Memorial Day. Detours are in place to handle through traffic and to enable people to access businesses.


Another major change will be occurring in north Minot in a little more than a month when the city begins the extension of 16th Street Northwest to the U.S. Highway 83 Bypass. Construction is planned this year between 21st and 30th avenues.


The new street will be two lanes with a third turning lane. Bids will be opened Friday on the project, estimated to cost almost $1.7 million.


The Minot Park District will be paving at the North Hill soccer complex and at Polaris Park. The Minot City Council, which created the paving district for the park board, will decide next month on accepting the low bid from Minot Paving of $55,831.


The bid is more than $15,000 over the estimate because of the way construction costs are rising, said Waide Kritsy, Minot city engineer. However, the park board supports getting the project done, he said.


Ron Merritt, parks director, said once the council makes a bid award, the park district will set a meeting with affected users of the soccer complex to determine a park closure schedule that will least disrupt activities. The work is expected to last about a week.


The work at Polaris Park will include adding a walking path to the picnic shelter and playground.


Other street work planned in the city includes:

• A chip seal district south and east of Oak Park as far as Broadway.



• A street seal district from the airport to Eighth Avenue between Broadway and Third Street as well as the road to the National Guard headquarters.



• A street improvement district on Second Avenue Southwest from 16th Street to 26th Street.



• A street improvement district on 11th Avenue South from 1st Street Southeast to Sixth Street Southwest.



• A street improvement district  on 27th Street Southeast from Burdick Expressway to the railroad tracks.

 The North Dakota Department of Transportation has projects scheduled both north and south of Minot this summer.


The department will have contractors paving a section of U.S. Highway 83 from the junction of N.D. Highway 23 south of Minot to Max. Traffic will switch to one side of the four-lane during the work.


Another project involves paving on N.D. Highway 23 from Highway 83 east to the junction of N.D. Highway 41, a distance of about 17 miles. Pilot cars will be present, and traffic will be delayed.


A thin overlay will be placed on Highway 83 from north of Minot Air Force Base to Renville corner, a distance of about 23 miles. A pilot car will be present, and traffic will be delayed.


A chip seal project on Highway 83 from Minot to Minot Air Force Base will push traffic to one side of the four-lane. The project should be completed within a week.


The department hasn’t determined start dates for the projects, but it tentatively plans for its construction season to run from the end of June through the middle of August.


One state project that already has started is the improvement of the underpass in Velva. Traffic is reduced to one lane with a temporary signal to control traffic. Similar underpass construction will be done in Towner later.


Work also continues on the U.S. Highway 2 four-laning. Construction this year will include building two additional lanes from Berthold east to connect with the existing four-lane highway.


Ward County will be doing two major overlay projects on paved roads between Minot and Surrey and near Kenmare this summer.


Overlay work on Ward County Highway 12 between Minot and Surrey will begin the first part of June. An overlay project on 10.5 miles of Ward County Highway 2 from Kenmare east will begin at the end of June. Each project will take about two weeks, and traffic will proceed but with delays.


The county will be replacing a bridge on Ward County Highway 23 south of Sawyer sometime later. Traffic will be detoured during the three-week construction period.


The county also has several other bridges that will be repaired. The bridges are largely on township roads and were identified in a recent inspection of the county’s more than 70 bridges as needing attention. County engineer Dana Larsen said the only bridge ranked as “structurally deficit” was the bridge that is being replaced near Sawyer.


Minot also will be constructing some water and sewer improvements this summer.


The city will be continuing work on phase 1 of the Puppy Dog Sewer System improvements to handle future growth in south Minot. Coughlin Construction has been awarded the $1.8 million project to build forcemain improvements from the Puppy Dog lift station to the aeration lagoons.


The city also plans work on phase 2 of the Puppy Dog Sewer System improvements. That work consists of sewer main placement and a lift station near Sixth Street Southeast.


As part of Eastside Water Distribution System improvements, a water transmission main will be built from the Souris River to 27th Street and in the area of 42nd Street near the agricultural park. Post Construction will be doing the 42nd Street project for $531,995, and Molstad Excavating will be doing the 27th Street project for $1.1 million.


A water transmission line will be installed on Minot’s southwest side, along 30th Street Southwest and 37th Avenue Southwest to the Dakota Square elevated water tank. The new line is designed to improve water capacity in south Minot. Swanberg Construction submitted the low bid of $3.4 million.


A storm sewer district in the area of Fisher Motors may at times affect traffic on 20th Avenue Southwest. The district runs along 12th Street Southwest between 19th Avenue and the U.S. Highway 2 & 52 Bypass. The city will open bids on the project Tuesday.


There also will be nearly $132,000 in sidewalk, curb and gutter projects around the city.