Grand Forks' 47th Avenue interchange approved by Federal Highway Administration
Apr. 28—GRAND FORKS — The future interchange at 47th Avenue South and Interstate 29 has cleared another hurdle as the Federal Highway Administration gave its approval to the interchange location and alignment.
With the approval, the project can move forward with planning, design and eventually construction. While adding another interchange in Grand Forks has been talked about for years, the Federal Highway Administration had to give the approval to allow modifications to the interstate system and the potential impacts additional exits and entrances would have on the system.
"We're pretty excited we made it to another milestone; it's a very important step in the process," Grand Forks City Engineer Al Grasser said. "The North Dakota Department of Transportation and now the Federal Highway Administration have agreed to the location."
The city's preferred location for the interchange would keep in line with 47th Avenue South and not have the interchange jog to the south. The future interchange is expected to help alleviate traffic pressure on the 32nd Avenue South interchange.
"If we don't make some sort of improvement, traffic starts backing up on the interstate ramps on 32nd Avenue," Grasser said. "That's a problem for the Federal Highway Administration and that's really the impetus of why we're looking at the interchange."
With the approval, further planning and design work can begin. While an actual intersection is a ways off, work can begin on selecting professional services for engineering and design and the acquisition of the right-of-way needed for the project. Construction would begin sometime near the end of the decade, around 2029 depending on other projects in the state and funding availability.
If built, it would be the first Interstate 29 interchange built in Grand Forks in more than 50 years. Studies from the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization
show that much of the city's future traffic growth
will be in the southern portions, where this interchange will be located.
The city will need to work to connect the future interchange to the rest of the roadway network, but Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski said getting the approval is "exciting" and that the timeframe allows the city time to build the infrastructure.
"We're continuing to push it. These types of projects take all hands on deck in the push and moving forward," Bochenski said. "It's a big milestone that we need to get through ... so there's a comfortable timeline because that's million and millions of dollars of roads to get interconnected."
