April 21, 2023
Corps announces county road closures for I-29 grade raise project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, along with the Metro Flood Diversion Authority and the North Dakota Department of Transportation, will resume construction on the Interstate 29 road raise next week.
It will be necessary to shift traffic to the northbound bypass lane, resulting in single-lane traffic beginning April 27 for construction of the permanent interstate roadway. This will last approximately six months. Additionally, the County Road 16 southbound on-ramp will be closed for around four months.
“Single lane traffic and the ramp closures are required for the project to move into the next phase for construction of the mainline grade raise to continue. Prior to single-lane traffic, individual lane closures will be necessary on the northbound bypass. Motorists should be aware of the changing conditions and slow down through the work zones,” said Mathew Andersen, resident engineer. “This is the last construction season for the project, and we are looking forward to project completion this fall.” To date, around three miles of the new southbound roadway has been completed.
The I-29 grade raise project is part of the Fargo, North Dakota / Moorhead, Minnesota, Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project. It consists of a grade raise of I-29 for approximately 4 miles to bring the roadway out of the 500-year flood elevation. The project extends from south of Exit 50 (Hickson Interchange) to north of Exit 54 (Davenport/Oxbow Interchange) and includes an up-and-over where I-29 crosses the southern embankment near the Wild Rice River, bridge construction and replacement, a temporary by-pass, as well as work on adjacent County Roads 18 and 81 in the vicinity of Oxbow.
The Corps is working in partnership with the cities of Fargo and Moorhead and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority on the diversion project. This project will provide flood risk reduction for nearly 260,000 people and 70 square miles of infrastructure in the communities of Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, Horace and Harwood.