West Fargo — Metro COG staff and their consultant, HDR, presented a regional rail-crossing needs study that examined 15 locations across the metro area and identified four priority crossings in West Fargo.

Dan Hansen of Metro COG introduced the project and said it began after BNSF asked several local jurisdictions to evaluate key crossings. “BNSF agreed to provide the local match for the project,” Hansen said, a contribution project staff said reduced the local funding burden for participating jurisdictions.

Consultant Dan Bergerson summarized the study’s preferred alternatives for West Fargo. For 26th Street Northwest, the team recommended a structure that would remove the at-grade crossing and provide six lanes to align with traffic projections from the West 94 study while adding a shared-use path for pedestrians and bicyclists. Bergerson said, “Given some of the future projections for that area, [26th Street Northwest] actually has the highest score out of the entire metro area.”

Other West Fargo recommendations include adding a structure near 15th Street to increase mobility, an overpass at 9th Street (though an improved underpass scored similarly and may be a lower-cost option), and an overpass at Center Street to address repeated vehicle strikes. The report used a multi-criteria scoring matrix that ranked magnitude of project benefits, emergency-service access, and community impacts among the top criteria.

Presenters emphasized the study is informational. No funding commitments or schedule were adopted at the meeting; Metro COG staff said further design, funding identification and jurisdictional coordination would be required before any construction could begin.

The study team invited questions from commissioners and reiterated the findings are intended to guide future planning and to support grant applications and interagency coordination.