File Photo The Anne Street Bridge has been the subject of preservation discussion since the 2011 flood and faces a crossroads as the Minot City Council discusses whether to leave it on a prospective capital improvements project list.

The fate of an aged bridge spanning the Souris River and railroad tracks is again under consideration by the Minot City Council.

Council members meeting in a work session Monday to discuss future capital improvement projects questioned whether to invest $1.9 million into repair of the Anne Street Pedestrian Bridge or just scrap the project.

“It’s almost a reconstruction. The only things that we are going to save is the truss, the few piers that we have there. All the decking, all the railing, everything has to be replaced,” City Engineer Lance Meyer said. “The bridge is just in too bad a shape.”

City Manager Harold Stewart acknowledged the historical value of the Anne Street Bridge but questioned whether the bridge is necessary since it will interfere with flood mitigation and is a point of contention with BNSF Railroad, which wants it gone. Also, the city already has restored another historical pedestrian bridge, the Victoria, just blocks away.

“If that is not a priority and we decide that doesn’t need to be replaced, then I think we should be talking about the actual removal of the structure, because my concern about kicking it down the road is we have a long-term liability issue there,” Stewart said. “Is this enough of a priority to preserve for historical purposes that we’re going to eventually, at some point, rebuild the entire bridge? Today it’s $1.9 million. By the time we get around to doing it, it may be $3 or $4 million to replace that bridge. Or are we going to make the executive decision now and say that’s not a priority?”

The bridge, currently closed to pedestrians, would need to be removed if not repaired.

Public Works Director Dan Jonasson recounted that the city received around $70,000 from BNSF to bring the bridge up to standards after the city took possession. Just getting up to standards would have cost $600,000, he recalled, so the Victoria Bridge was rebuilt instead.

He added the agreement with BNSF isn’t definitive on whether the railroad will allow the city to replace the Anne Street Bridge.

“I’m not in favor of it being there,” Council President Lisa Olson said. “I’m more in favor of having it dismantled and saving portions of it for historical sake.”

Along with the bridge, Meyer said, more council study is needed on other projects to determine whether to keep them in the capital improvements plan.

Among them is reconstruction of Third Street Southeast from the viaduct to Fifth Avenue, just south of Trinity. The project would include lighting and underground infrastructure. Meyer said the project is eligible for grant funds, which could cover as much as half of the $12 million cost. However, he noted, the project would need to be coordinated with the flood protection project in that area.

Another project the council must consider is the reconstruction of First Avenue North, which would cost about $16 million. Work would begin near Minot Public Library, continue past the Amtrak Depot and connect east to Third Street Northeast. One option is to make the avenue more of a pedestrian and bicycle route.

“This project is really complicated because almost all of the necessary right of way for this project is owned by BNSF,” Meyer said. It was noted that BNSF isn’t keen on the project.

The current traffic count on that rough stretch is about 200 vehicles a day. The average street would have 400 to 600 vehicles a day, Meyer said.

“What we would like to see is for us to look a little bit more holistically at this area of downtown,” Meyer said of the collective downtown projects. “There’s a lot of potential here in redevelopment and economic development.

“We have a lot of opportunity in this section of northeast Minot to Third Street. I think there’s a lot of value there that the city could capture, but we need to understand what improvements are necessary to capture that value so that we don’t overspend on the infrastructure and then not realize the gain on the property value,” he added.

He requested $400,000 to $600,000 for a comprehensive study into the estimated $30 million in downtown infrastructure projects to gain some answers.

Mayor Shaun Sipma said discussions are ongoing with both BNSF and CP Rail that could affect those projects. Information could be coming to the council within a few weeks.

Other capital improvement programs under consideration include:

– The conversion from high pressure sodium street lights to energy-efficient LED bulbs. Spending $115,000 a year, the city would complete the replacement of thousands of remaining lights over five to seven years, reducing the city’s electrical expense by as much as $200,000 a year. LED bulbs are changed every 12 to 15 years, compared to two to three years for HPS lights, reducing manpower needs.

– Reconstruction of the City Hall retaining wall. A postponed project, the retaining wall work now is scheduled for 2022.

– Relocation of the former Souris Basin Transit building, acquired to make way for the flood control project. The city is using and would continue to use the building as a city traffic division shop once relocated to city property in 2023. The $200,000 relocation cost would be a savings from an estimated $1 million in new construction.

The council is expected to formally take up discussion on the capital improvement plan at its May 3 meeting.

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Capital Improvement Projects

– New LED street lights

– Reconstruction of the City Hall retaining wall

– Relocation of the city traffic division shop

– Third Street Southeast reconstruction (downtown)

– First Avenue Southeast reconstruction (downtown)

– Anne Street Bridge rehabilitation