City secures bypass funding
City secures bypass funding
By Jerry W. Kram
New Town will get a bypass this year, if it can satisfy all the permit requirements quickly enough.
At the regular meeting of the New Town City Council, City Engineer Alan Estvold informed the council that the bypass project had secured $6 million from the North Dakota Oil Impact Fund. Estvold said that should be sufficient to cover most of the construction costs of the first phase of the project, which would extend north and east of the city and connect North Dakota Highways 1804 and 23.
“It won’t be enough to cover the engineering and permitting costs,” Estvold said. “But the city would have to pay a 20 percent share if this was a regular (North Dakota) Department of Transportation funded project, so you’ll come out about the same.”
The council had hoped to issue a request for bids on the project in March. However, the Army Corps of Engineers will require the city to get a permit to cross some wetlands. Estvold said the permit, called a 404 permit, will take a couple of months to complete.
“That’s the bad news,” Estvold said. “The good news is that they’ve started the process and that’s what we need to keep the project moving.”
