Bob Walton, district engineer for the NDDOT, said the project will cost an estimated $1 million. The cost is estimated high due to the extensive deterioration of the few city blocks.
The project will stretch from west of Front Street to east of Third Street and will include a mill and overlay from Third Street to the east edge of town. The project will improve the subgrade of the existing roadway, provide an improved pavement surface and profile, and upgrade the underground storm sewer. The mill and overlay will improve the ride quality of the existing roadway.
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The high water table around Fairmount has caused the existing subgrade to retain water and erode. The road is not holding up to heavy loads either. There are problems with drainage, and a failing pavement surface.
“We will be digging 5 feet down and fixing the subgrade to allow water to drain away from the road,” he said.
There are two different design philosophies for the project. The urban portion of the project consists of grading, widening and paving Highway 11.
The urban portion of the project will consist of milling 1.5 feet of existing pavement and replacing it with a 2-foot pavement overlay.
During reconstruction there will be two temporary signal lights placed on Front Street and the east side of Fairmount. Officials said instead of routing traffic through city streets, they will use a one-lane road on Highway 11, with the signal lights alerting traffic when to proceed.
“This is the only way to do this project without tearing the town up,” Walton said.
The city of Fairmount invested funds into new city streets a few years ago, so Mayor Jon Nelk was pleased with the idea of eliminating excess traffic through town.
The project will be bid in April and awarded within a month. Walton is hoping for a June start and said it will take about three months to complete, with cooperative weather. Federal dollars will pay 80 percent of the Fairmount project and the state will pay the additional 20 percent.
The Highway 11 project is one of three slated for Richland County in the summer of 2010. The Department of Transportation will also be working on Highway 127 from Highway 11 to the south side of Wahpeton. This 14 mile project will run concurrent with the Fairmount project and the reconstruction of Highway 13 from the Wahpeton overpass to the Bois de Sioux bridge.
The 14-mile stretch for Highway 127 is estimated to cost $12 million. This is a 80-20 split between federal money and state, with federal money paying 80 percent of the project.
This project was bid Nov. 20 and will be awarded in about a month.
The Highway 13 project is an 80-10-10 split with federal dollars paying 80 percent, state dollars paying 10 percent and the city of Wahpeton paying the final 10 percent. Walton did not have an estimated cost for this project.
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