1804 to get major upgrade
Traffic will still flow through 2014 construction
By Jerry W. Kram
A dozen or so concerned citizens were in attendance for a public information meeting at the New Town Civic Center on Nov. 7 to hear about the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s plans to replace about 2.5 miles of North Dakota Highway 1804 stretching from the junction of North Dakota Highway 23 to the planned truck bypass to the north.
According to NDDOT statistics, that section of 1804 carries an average of 3,660 vehicles per day, including 2,250 trucks. NDDOT projections estimate that traffic could grow to 5,460 vehicles a day, including 3,355 trucks by 2033.
The 1804 project is one of three major projects that are planned for New Town in the next two years. The 1804 project and the New Town Truck Bypass will be built in 2014 and the long delayed reconstruction of Main Street will finally happen in 2015.
Darrell Arne, a engineer for the NDDOT, laid out the basics of the $7.5 million project. The main components of the project are to widen the highway to 40 feet from the intersection with Highway 23 to the baseball diamond to add a left turn lane and to replace the current four inches of asphalt with 11.5 inches of concrete for the entire 2.5 miles to where it meets the truck bypass.
