County hears update on MAGIC corridor
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The development of the proposed Southwest Connector Corridor around Minot is advancing into a new stage that will give stakeholders, and eventually community members, a chance to provide input.
Jim Merck, a project manager with Bolton and Menk, presented an update on the project to the Ward County Commission Thursday, Nov. 5. The concept of a southwest corridor was talked about as long ago as 1997, but planning efforts began in earnest with a study completed in 2022.
Now labeled the Minot Accessible Growth Driving Intermodal Connector, or MAGIC, Initiative, the project has secured $10 million to this point in federal grants to help with planning.
"It's important to understand that we're still in a preliminary phase of this project. We're examining two different routes," Merck said.
The Outer Connector Route travels through the Trestle Valley area and south along existing County Road 17. The two east-west alignments that have been looked at are 66th Avenue and 93rd Avenue, which would make the connection to U.S. Highway 83, creating a truck reliever and connector corridor route.
The route will significantly improve freight mobility, and the connection to County Road 14 will improve access to Trinity Hospitals by ambulance services to the west, Merck said.
The Inner Connector Route would be new, with a connection heading south from U.S. Highway 2 & 52 either at Burdick Expressway or the U.S. Highway 83 Bypass.
"Those are going to also provide critical route access to that new, growing area in southwest Minot. But that's, obviously, going to be much more of your local traffic," Merck said.
Bolton and Menk's current focus has been on data collection, including environmental documentation, geotech work and land surveying.
Stakeholder meetings are just beginning and will continue through this month. Stakeholders include ambulance districts, emergency management, economic development, Trinity Hospital, Minot Air Force Base, adjacent landowners and others.
Over the winter, Bolton and Menk will be looking at design concepts.
"We don't know which routes would be ultimately landed on, but we'll start to develop some roadway alternatives and then present that in the spring," Merck said.
A public meeting on the outer corridor will be scheduled in March. The public also will have a chance to weigh in through surveys.
A second engagement period will focus on the inner corridor and will include a public hearing in the January-February timeframe. Engineers then will present a final plan to the county commission.
Information being disseminated by Bolton and Menk regarding the need for the project notes U.S. 2 & 52 carries as many as 18,500 vehicles a day, and U.S. 83 serves up to 27,000 vehicles a day. During peak travel periods, delays are as high as 35% on segments of the corridor. Initial meetings with landowners and the public determined 76% of respondents favored improvements.