Lake Sakakawea paved roads bill killed by Senate
Lake Sakakawea paved roads bill killed by Senate
By JILL DENNING GACKLE
BHG News Service
The bill to pave more roads to Lake Sakakawea, HB1515, was defeated 35-11 in the North Dakota Senate Monday.
The bill would have allowed for $15 million to be spent on roads in the Lake Sakakawea region. Of the 34 roads to access the lake, 14 are paved. Twenty roads are not and members of the Friends of Lake Sakakawea organization testified that nearly 60 percent of the roads are long, narrow, curvy and sometimes dangerous washboard roads.
The bill originally called for $30 million to pave more access roads and was amended by the House Transportation Committee to $15 million. It received a 48-45 “do pass” by the House, the slimmest margin possible. It then went to the Senate where it received a 5-1 “do not pass” recommendation from the Senate Transportation Committee. It was defeated Monday in a full Senate vote.
The Friends were behind the legislation to improve higher traffic areas around the lake. The proposed list of roads to pave included: six miles of paving to Camp of the Cross/Triangle Y Camp, four miles to Indian Hills and six miles to McKenzie Bay. Also on the list was eight miles to Reunion Bay, 10 miles to White Earth Bay, five miles to Wolf Creek Recreation Area and three miles to Little Beaver Bay.
