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County highway superintendent urges NDOT to restore original bridge realignment; commissioners sign support letters
Summary
DeKalb County highway superintendent Ben Parker urged the board to ask NDOT to restore an earlier realignment plan for a bridge on County Road 27, citing safety concerns; commissioners approved sending amended letters asking NDOT to revisit the design and to fund the realignment rather than require the county to contribute.
DeKalb County highway superintendent Ben Parker told commissioners Feb. 17 he strongly opposes NDOT’s plan to replace the bridge on County Road 27 with a like-for-like structure instead of the previously proposed realignment. Parker said the existing bridge and curved approaches create sight-distance and safety concerns for school buses and regular traffic and described past accidents and repeated guardrail replacements.
Parker said he was told realigning to the original proposed design would add roughly $4 million to the state’s cost because it would require additional right-of-way acquisition. He argued the county should not be expected to pay for that cost and said he would draft letters asking NDOT to revisit the design and to fund the safer realignment: "That bridge ought to be corrected, while it's getting rehabbed." Commissioners voted to authorize signing the letters with an amendment clarifying the county does not have funds to pay for the $4 million re-alignment; the motion carried 3–0.
The board also directed Parker to circulate amended language and work with the county attorney for final signature and transmission to NDOT.
