North Dakota DOT (NDDOT) Director Bill Panos and Fargo Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney, along with other state and local officials, this week celebrated the completion of the second and final phase of the Main Avenue reconstruction with a ribbon cutting event in downtown Fargo.
“The State of North Dakota and the City of Fargo have invested $28 million to transform Main Avenue into a safe, accessible, and beautiful passageway to and through the heart of downtown,” Panos said in a statement.
The $28.6 million two-year makeover of Main Avenue in downtown Fargo is a joint project between the NDDOT and City of Fargo. The project improved 50- to 60-year-old underground infrastructure and an aging driving surface, while improving the pedestrian experience through this downtown corridor.
This year’s reconstruction began on Monday, April 13, and Main Avenue fully opened on Saturday, Sept. 5. The contractor, Dakota Underground, finished the road construction project over a month ahead of schedule. The 2020 project improved roadway conditions and underground utilities through the Main Avenue corridor between Broadway and University Drive. Additionally, the project added 50 on-street parallel parking spaces on both sides of the street. This section of roadway will now operate as a three-lane arterial road between Broadway and 9th Street, transitioning into a four-lane section between 9th Street and 11th Street, and a five-lane section west of 11th Street. A counterflow lane was also added on University Drive between Main Avenue and NP Avenue North to offer another north railroad underpass crossing.
Motorists also benefit from the dynamic messaging system that has been installed to alert drivers that a railroad crossing will soon be initiated and allow drivers to make the decision to use one of the three underpasses prior to the railroad crossing instead. The overhead signs are installed on the north side of the Main Avenue Veterans Memorial Bridge, west of University Drive on Main Avenue to urge motorists to take the new counterflow lane on University, and just before 10th Street, allowing drivers to take the underpass to avoid any delays.
Fargo Main Avenue (U.S. Highway 10) is part of the NDDOT Regional Highway System and serves as an arterial connection between West Fargo, Fargo and Moorhead. Constructed in the 1950s, this full stretch of Main Avenue is one of the oldest roads in Fargo.
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SOURCE: North Dakota DOT
