A roundabout, bigger spaces for pedestrians or a splash of color for a Grand Forks intersection are all on the proverbial drawing board, part of project aimed aimed at new, temporary traffic features around North Dakota.
Part of the "ND Moves" project, spearheaded by the North Dakota Department of Transportation, the project gathers community members and leaders to add new items to city streets. Examples shown at a Grand Forks City Council meeting include colorfully painted pavement at an intersection, expanded pedestrian landings at corners and a temporary roundabout, built partly with what appeared to be shrubbery.
"We can either have it out there for a day or a month. Instead of putting something permanent out there, spending tens of thousands of dollars," said Stephanie Halford, a planner with the city. "If it makes it better, then we put it in."
Halford said the project is focusing on three locations, to be winnowed to one before the end of the week: Third Street between DeMers and Kittson avenues, the awkward corner of Belmont Road, South Fifth Street and Division Avenue and the intersection of Fourth Avenue South and Reeves Drive.
City officials plan to meet with invited community leaders and residents on Thursday and Friday at City Hall to discuss possibilities for the project and select a final location.
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City Administrator Todd Feland said NDDOT officials are lending expertise to support the project's implementation. Halford said city expenses on a new traffic feature should not exceed several hundred dollars.
Other business
Grand Forks City Council leaders offered a 5-0 final vote of approval for a recommendation that the local Metropolitan Planning Organization study five sites for a new, "local traffic" bridge at their Monday meeting.
The vote, which comes as the MPO compiles a long-range plan for big projections in the area, places the city at odds with East Grand Forks, which recommended studying just two sites - 24th Avenue South and 32nd Avenue South. Instead, Grand Forks leaders hope to study those as well as 17th Avenue South, 47th Avenue South and Merrifield Road.
City Council members Ken Vein and Jeannie Mock were absent from the meeting.
The next MPO board meeting, when the matter next be discussed, is set for April 18.
