Jill Schramm/MDN Shown with a group of supporters, Eric Wald testifies to the need for paving Ward County 23 south of Sawyer at a Ward County Commission meeting Tuesday.

A paving project on Ward County Road 23 between U.S. Highways 52 and 2 is moving up on the county’s priority list.

The Ward County Commission voted Tuesday to take the first steps in a multi-year project to see paving accomplished on about 10 miles of the road from Sawyer, on Highway 52, to Highway 2, east of Surrey. The commission acted after residents in the area advocated for the project, presenting petitions with more than 130 signers.

Everyone who lives along the road has signed, said Eric Wald, Norwich.

“Everybody that lives on the road, basically in the last couple years, has bought a windshield,” Wald said of rocks thrown by trucks. “It’s a safety factor. When you get a calm day in the protected areas, the dust hangs in there and you literally can’t see. You can drive 10 miles an hour and you’re overdriving the conditions.”

He also cited the death of a motorcyclist on the loose gravel a month ago.

“We only live a half mile off that road, and it is getting to be very unsafe. Everybody pretty much pulls into an approach when a semi comes,” said Garth Klein of Norwich, noting the risk of accidents in the cloud of dust left in a truck’s wake.

Mark Vollmer, chairman of Surrey Township, said paving County Road 23 would make for more convenient travel, diverting people from township roads.

“We’re getting a lot of roads beat up on truck traffic and other traffic, and I see a big benefit if Ward County would pave that road,” he said. He added paving that stretch would improve road connections, particularly since County Road 23 already is paved south of Sawyer.

Highway Engineer Dana Larsen spoke about the county’s former paving moratorium, put in place due to construction costs. The moratorium was lifted recently with the availability of new state funding and the shift of the county’s half percent sales tax to roads and bridges.

The first paving project in some time is taking place this summer with the on about 7 miles of Ward County Road 14, which connects with a road in Mountrail County that is to be paved. That project is funded 50% with state funds and 50% with county sales tax.

Larsen said County Road 23 has always been on the radar to be paved because of the traffic level.

“Of course, during harvest, it probably goes up higher, but I think we’re around 150 consistently in vehicles a day,” he said. “But I think the amount of truck traffic is probably the bigger impact on the roadway.”

Angie Heilman with Dakota Midland Grain said there is heavy traffic on County Road 23 to its facility.

“We estimate two and half to 3 million bushels coming up that road, which can be an average in the year of 2,500 to 3,000 trucks, just going one way. Then they turn around and go back,” she said.

Larsen said right of way would need to be purchased and the roadway rebuilt to support the width, load and carrying capacity. He estimated the cost of that work and paving at $7.5-$10 million.

He said the first step would be to hire a consultant for survey and project design. He estimated the earliest a project would be bid is 2027, with paving potentially in 2028 or 2029, depending on funding.

The commission directed Larsen to incorporate the costs of survey and design into the highway department’s 2026 budget proposal.