Construction in F-M Metro picks up with spring weather

The frost is long gone and road construction work is kicking into high gear in the metro and around the region.

FARGO-MOORHEAD (KVRR) – Construction in F-M Metro picks up with spring weather.

The frost is long gone and road construction work is kicking into high gear in the metro and around the region.

“Contractors want to get out there and get the maintenance worked on for us so we bid on a number of projects over the winter time and they’re chomping at the bit to get out there and start doing the work. So yea the last week or two has really seen a lot of lane closures in south Fargo, I guess it’s a sign of the times, it’s either winter or it’s road construction here,” said Jeremy Gordon, City of Fargo Engineer.

One of the biggest projects in Fargo is on the busy intersection of 38th Street and 13th Avenue South in front of West Acres Mall.

Crews have been out there working two to three weeks around 12 hours a day.

“Two different crews working right now we have the underground crew ran by Brent and his guys are doing all the removal and a lot of the prep work that we have to do, so like drilling holes and fine grading,” said George Arel Jr, Dakota Underground.

The second group, the concrete crew, helps with any work the first team might have missed.

“Any place that has really big cracks in it or even small cracks, we’re tearing up all of that stuff and putting new stuff in, that way it gives everyone a better ride,” said Arel Jr.

They say there have been some incidents where people are driving over the speed limit and distracted behind the wheel, and have run into barrels but overall they feel relatively safe working out here on the road.

Fargo City Officials says this is something that has to be done every 15 to 20 years.

Moorhead has a major underpass project under construction.

“Long process it’s been a long project. We’ve had some pretty good community support, this is the single largest city led project that the city of Moorhead has ever done,” said Jonathan Atkins, Moorhead City Traffic Engineer.

The 51 point seven million dollar underpass is expected to open to traffic in the middle of July. They say traffic will flow more smoothly, and people are anxious for it.

“Not having the trains blocking the way will be a big benefit to traffic, probably the single largest benefit is safety, not having a train crossing is far far safer when traffic is going underneath the train, versus sharing the same space as a train,” said Atkins.

The road repairs on 38th Street and 13th Avenue South in Fargo should be finished in the coming weeks.

In Moorhead, the bypass will be fully operational a couple weeks after the initial opening.