Growth dominates city council agenda
By Jerry W. Kram
With the completion of the North Dakota Highway 23 Bypass coming this fall, New Town is poised for an unprecedented growth spurt. City Engineer Joe Dubel outlined the cost of that growth to the council and the council discuss how the city was going to pay for infrastructure needed to support that expansion.
Dubel said he, along with some other engineers at Ackerman Estvold Engineering, put together a rough idea of the sewer and street projects that would be needed if all the development along the bypass corridor comes to pass. The city will need to build new streets west from North Dakota Highway 1804, a new north-south corridor west of the new hotels on the east side of the city, and extend College Drive north to the bypass.
Improvements to the city’s sewer system are being done in conjunction with the work on Highway 1804 and more will be done with next summer’s Main Street reconstruction. However, New Town will need new sewer lines installed to support growth along Highway 23 to the east and north along East Avenue to support growth to the north. Dubel said the city should also plan for a second water tower northeast of the city and major improvements and additions to the sewage lagoons.
