Jill Schramm/MDN A truck travels down U.S. Highway 52 Tuesday near Sawyer. The North Dakota Department of Transportation is preparing a project that will add passing/climbing lanes from Carrington to Canada.

The construction of passing lanes on U.S. Highway 52 is set to begin next year, although it will be a few more years before motorists fully see the “Super 2” highway concept from Canada to Carrington.

Survey crews with Ulteig, the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s engineering consultant, are gathering information in the development of an environmental document for the stretch from Minot to Carrington.

Barring any hitches in completing the environmental review, the department has an aggressive schedule to construct passing lanes in 2022 between Carrington and Fessenden, said Steve Salwei, director of transportation programs for the NDDOT.

Previous survey work had been done north of Minot, and the highway between the Canadian border and the junction of N.D. Highway 5, north of Kenmare, also is set for 2022.

In 2023, the plan is to undertake construction from Highway 5 to Minot and from Fessenden to just east of Balfour. The estimated $11.5 million segment between Minot and east of Balfour is on the schedule for 2024.

Salwei said plans for passing lanes will be dependent on environmental findings, but the department already is considering locations of potential lanes.

The number of passing/climbing lanes between Minot and Carrington is currently expected to be 11 southeast-bound and 12 northwest-bound, although this could change based on the environmental review. A number of turn lanes also will be improved, and lighting will be installed at Highway 52 and N.D. Highway 14.

Randy Hauck of Velva, who has been involved with a regional committee that pushed for Highway 52 improvements, noted safety concerns because the highway carries a high ratio of trucks to other vehicular traffic. A past chairman of Velva’s economic development corporation, Hauck said the community had advocated for highway improvements since the late 1990s and has seen some upgrades with widening of the roadway, climbing lanes and a four-lane section near Minot.

“But this will be a real safety improvement to have passing lanes,” he said. “I am glad the DOT is stepping up.”

An open house on the Carrington to Minot segment will be held Aug. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Velva school.

The Highway 52 project received a federal infrastructure grant that will cover