Road work on schedule: Wet June caused delays, but officials says deadlines should be met

Published Thursday, July 14, 2005

Heavy June rains briefly delayed work on Interstate 29 and 45th Street in Fargo, but city officials and construction crews are confident early fall deadlines will be met.

Nearly 8.5 inches of rain fell in the Fargo-Moorhead area last month, the fifth-wettest June in 125 years.

The six-lane widening of 45th Street is scheduled to be complete by early to mid-November, said Greg McCormick, an engineer for Northern Improvement Co., the project's general contractor.

"We've had some wet Junes lately, so it wasn't a huge shock," McCormick said. "The rain wasn't a total disaster or anything."

McCormick said crews typically get most of their work done in August and September, offsetting slower weeks in June. One-hundred-hour work weeks during that time aren't out of the question, he said.

Road work

The $9 million reconstruction of 45th Street South from Ninth Avenue North to Interstate 94 - designed to accommodate an increase in traffic brought on by rapid development in southwest Fargo - began in early May.

Work between Ninth Avenue South and 13th Avenue South on 45th Street likely won't be finished until early August, McCormick said.

Crews will then focus on rebuilding the southbound lane of 45th Street from 13th Avenue South to 16th Avenue South, McCormick said.

"There's a lot of work to be done on 45th Street," he said.

If the weather cooperates, construction crews will finish installing crossover and ramp connections by late October on I-29 in preparation for next summer's widening of the interstate from Main Avenue to Cass County 20, said Kevin Gorder, assistant district engineer for the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

The $1.5 million project will allow drivers to exit I-29 at Main Avenue, 12th Street North, 19th Avenue North and Cass County 20 while crews widen the interstate to three lanes in each direction. The I-29 project, in its sixth year, should be completed by 2007, Gorder said.

Heavy rainfall slowed construction on the interstate in June, Gorder said, but reaching the completion goal is within reason.

"If the weather can hold, we'll be OK," Gorder said.

Traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction for at least another two weeks as crews close passing lanes from Main Avenue to beyond Cass County 20, Gorder said.

Rains also delayed reconstruction work for two weeks on eight miles of Interstate 94 from Casselton to Wheatland, Gorder said. Crews began working in April and likely won't finish until mid to late October, Gorder said.

"It wasn't a deal-breaker, but we'd like to be further along out there," he said.

Paving work on the eastbound lanes of I-94 between the Moorhead and Downer exits is on time, said Judy Jacobs, the public affairs coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Completion of the project is expected July 29.

Near normal rainfall and temperatures are projected the remainder of the summer in the Fargo-Moorhead area, according the Climate Prediction Center of Maryland.

The center's predicted precipitation amounts are 2.9 inches in July, 2.5 inches in August and 2.1 inches in September.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Joe Whetham at (701) 241-5557

Photo caption: Ryan Hass of Superior Sawing and Sealing of Mora, Minn., blows debris off 45th Street on