City council discusses Main St. project, bypass
City council discusses Main St. project, bypass
By MEGAN PETERSEN
REPORTER
At its meeting on June 15, the New Town City Council touched base with its designers for the Main Street improvement project and discussed the plans for a truck bypass out of town.
The original bypass was set to go down 87th Ave. NW about a mile west of New Town. Citizens who lived along this road received letters notifying them of the possibility of a bypass. These residents and other people from the community reacted with grave concern to the idea of a truck bypass going right by their homes.
In light of this, the city council discussed altering the location of the bypass. The current plan places the bypass along the corporate city limits less than 3,000 feet west of New Town, and then continuing along the original route. The original route also has the bypass going around the Edgewater Golf Course. That area is now underwater, so the route’s western border must also be redetermined. Mayor Dan Uran hoped that this compromise would solve most issues that people have with the bypass. “Nobody wants trucks rumbling past their house,” he said.
Alan Estvold and Steve Ike who are working on the Main St. project updated the council on the state of the project. There is concern as to how the city will pay for it.
The job of giving Main St. a facelift requires that traffic be decreased dramatically. A truck bypass is required to even begin the project and will cost an additional $2 to $2.5 million per mile. The Main St. project itself is expected to cost $2 million.
