Road reopening relieves Mandaree
Road reopening relieves Mandaree
By Jerry W. Kram
The reopening of North Dakota Highway 22 between Mandaree and Killdeer has come with a big sigh of relief from teachers at the Mandaree Public School.
The highway was closed this spring when wet conditions caused landslides that undermined or buried a section of the route. A bypass was planned to be completed in July but more landslides made it impossible to complete the work. The North Dakota Department of Transportation reopened the highway to traffic at reduced speeds last week.
School Superintendent Carolyn Bluestone said four of her teachers live in Killdeer and were either force to travel through Watford City or spend most of the week in Mandaree since school started in August.
“Being the Mandaree Warriors they are, they persevered and were here every day,”Bluestone said. “Some stayed locally here in the compound with other teachers during the week and were separated from their families. Being separated from your family during the week isn’t fun. It shows their dedication to the students. Some of them were getting up at three in the morning to get here on Mondays.”
