Changes Are Coming to 12th Avenue South in Moorhead; How You Can Get Involved

Whether it's the boulevard trees or its residential characteristics, many would like it its historic charm to remain while functioning like a major road corridor

MOORHEAD, Minn. — People from all different sectors within the city of Moorhead are putting their heads together to improve one of the main roads.

KVRR’s Jessie Cohen went to the group’s first public meeting to hear what the future could look like.

When you are driving down 12th avenue south in Moorhead, think about what sticks out to you.

Whether it’s the boulevard trees or its residential characteristics, many would like it its historic charm to remain while functioning like a major road corridor.

“Bicycle improvements, parking access, transit, all those type of things, just a great opportunity to take a step back and look at all those things,” said Matt Kinsella, the project manager.

The city has planned for improvements to be constructed during the spring and summer of 2020.

Now they are asking to hear from the people.

“The intent is to find out what the people really want. What do they expect us to do,” said Tom Trowbridge, the assistant city engineer.

One family has been living in Moorhead for over 60 years and they say from when their children were infants to today, they have never seen sidewalks on their street.

“There’s a few gaps in some of those sidewalks and bike paths and we’re really going to take a hard look at that and try to improve the way that pedestrians and bicyclists move through this area,” Kinsella said.

The two mile Corridor may run through the city of Moorhead, but thousands of students at Concordia and MSUM are affected by it daily.

“It’s not just important to people that are local to it, but it’s also very important to the major businesses and other institutions,” Trowbridge said.

With at least 5,000 people commuting on the road each day, right now its layout isn’t ideal.

“Just one lane of traffic each way with parking on both sides doesn’t really fit a corridor like this,” Trowbridge said.

But the big question remains, how do they incorporate the new while keeping the old?

“We’ll have to preserve those and also try to preserve as many of the historic boulevard trees and the historic nature of it,” Kinsella said.

That’s where the people come in. Studies like this will give the city insight on how to continually please the people.

“There is more of an emphasis on what they call complete streets they are trying to make a street so that it can work for all different users,” Kinsella said.

The next public meeting will be in February so this is your time to voice all of your questions, comments and concerns.

The plan is to have a draft study report by the second meeting, board and council approvals in March and April, followed by a final study report in May. Then construction will begin the spring.