FARGO (KFGO) – Crews began working on Segment One of the 32nd Avenue S. reconstruction project in April and all lanes of traffic were opened last Friday – seven weeks ahead of schedule.
Eric Hodgson, a civil engineer with the City of Fargo, said they anticipated the project to last until Oct. 20, but several factors helped the project’s contractor, Dakota Underground, finish the project early.
“Good weather always helps out the construction season,” Hodgson said. “Initially, this project was going to be built under traffic and we retooled the plan that allowed them to close the segments of the project down, and that also really helped them build it faster.”
Hodgson said costs for this segment came in as expected. The total cost for the entire project, a mile and a half stretch from University Drive to 32nd Street, is estimated around $20 million.
“We did end up rebidding this project because when we initially bid it out, costs came in high,” Hodgson said. “A lot of that was just because of the inflation post-COVID that we had been seeing that pretty much everyone’s been dealing with, but we retooled the plans. And then, with that new bid, when we rebid it, costs came in exactly where we would anticipate them to come in with that new bid which was very close to what that bid was.”
Because the project’s contractor – Dakota Underground – finished Segment One ahead of schedule, Hodgson said they will receive incentive funds totaling over $200,000.
There was some concern before the project began due to the number of businesses at the 25th Street intersection. Hodgson said, overall, the impact on businesses and people was low.
The next segment of the project – between 22nd and 15th Streets – begins next year.
