The meeting was part of a series of public input sessions being held in connection with a study on four-laning about 22 miles of the highway. The project area would run from the end of existing four-laning outside of Minot to just past Voltaire, where the project would connect with a recently constructed passing lane.

Mike Huffington with Ulteig Engineering said the study is in Phase II, related to the environmental assessment. The intention is to have project alternatives selected by March of next year as the study would then move into the final design and right-of-way phase, expected for completion in April 2027. Huffington said public comments at this stage are essential because they will influence those selected alternatives.

Huffington said there’s been no funding identified for construction. If the state elects to proceed and finds funding, construction could start in 2027 but more likely in 2028, he said.

The Legislature approved the study even as a grant and state funds were used to proceed with installing intermittent passing lanes on Highway 52 for safety. The impetus for the study has included perceived safety issues, existing and future traffic needs, social demands and economic development.

Jill Schramm/MDN Mike Huffington with Ulteig Engineering speaks during a presentation on a Highway 52 four-laning study at a public meeting in Velva Monday, Sept. 29.

“We’re calling it perceived safety issues. The main reason we’re calling it ‘perceived’ is we did complete a traffic analysis for this project, which also looked at the crash history along the corridor,” Huffington said. From 2018-2022, the data show crashes fall into a typical range that doesn’t raise a concern.

“But that doesn’t negate the fact that we received a lot of feedback from the public, expressing that this roadway is currently unsafe, and there are a number of issues that are driving that perception, starting with traffic volumes – in particular, truck traffic,” Huffington said.

About one in three vehicles on the highway are trucks in much of the section from Minot to Voltaire, he said. The percentage of trucks is lower nearer Minot, due to the offset created by an increase in commuter traffic.

Other issues creating perceived safety issues include narrow shoulders and guardrails, he said.

Traffic is expected to increase in coming years, based on estimated population growth and the activity associated with Minot Air Force Base and the upgrades coming in the missile field.

Some of the constraints influencing the alternatives for four-laning include accessing right of way, the flood plain, existing snowmobile trails near the highway, the location of the Sawyer baseball field and Velva cemetery, transmission lines, Fish and Wildlife easements and a number of identified cultural sites and also habitat parcels for the endangered Dakota Skipper butterfly.

The study is looking at two design options for either a 70 mph divided highway, with a depressed median or a 65 mph roadway with a paved, flush median. Huffington explained the depressed median option increases the project footprint and comes at higher cost but reduces the potential for head-on collisions.

He said the project likely would be a mix of the two median types, based on the circumstances within each of the six segments into which the project has been divided.

One of the previous public suggestions has been to leave the three lanes through Velva rather than widening the roadway in that area. The intersection with North Dakota Highway 41 in Velva doesn’t warrant a traffic signal but proposals exist to add a southbound Highway 41 right turn lane onto Highway 52 and an enhanced pedestrian crossing. Other options are a shared use path in Velva, a highway grade raise near Velva for flood protection and closure of the Second Avenue East intersection in Sawyer.

Huffington said a decision not to four-lane also remains an option, noting there would be land acquisition and considerable construction cost in advancing a project

“Roughly, additional right of way for the project, we are looking at between 95 and 181 additional acres,” Huffington said. “We are looking at $180 million to $220 million for an estimated cost, and I will note that this is all still in the preliminary phase. These numbers will be revised as we continue into final design.”

Some concerns at Monday’s meeting focused on the right of way and encroachment that could occur with highway widening.

Comments are being accepted until Oct. 15. They can be sent by email to Mike.Huffington@Ulteig.com or by mail to Ulteig Operations LLC, Attn: Mike Huffington, 3350 38th Ave. S., Fargo, ND 58104. Residents should include “U.S. Highway 52 Four Lane” in the email subject line or letter heading.

Another public meeting is likely early next year. A stakeholder working group with representatives of local governments and state legislators also has been providing input to engineers.