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Tower Bridge designs approved
Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Photo by Zak Holtan
A bridge will be built over the Otter Tail River at Tower Road in Fergus Falls in 2009-10. Concept designs for the bridge were approved Monday by the City Council.
Fergus Falls city leaders now have a vision of a potential Tower Road bridge.
The City Council on Monday approved three design concepts for the Tower Road bridge project that will someday decrease traffic on Union Avenue and ease traffic on Alcott Avenue.
When complete, a new route will be in place that follows the existing Tower Road, crosses the Otter Tail River and goes north from Tower Road upstream of Pisgah Dam, continuing north to the existing intersection of Lincoln and Tower Road. A west frontage road access to the bridge is part of the plan.
A three-quarter access has been proposed, which would close the west end of the road by putting in a cul-de-sac and placing a cut in the median so traffic can turn into the frontage road, allowing access to businesses along the frontage road.
John Olson, Century 21, owner of a four-plex housing unit and adjacent lot, expressed concern at last week’s public works meeting that closing the intersection would take away some of the property’s value, according to minutes of that meeting.
The drive-through currently used at the four-plex would be used in the plan as a driving/turning lane, said Dan Edwards, city engineer..
At that same meeting, John Klinnert of JK Sports suggested a right turn lane onto the frontage road so his customers could have another option for access to his business.
It would not be impossible to add a right-turn lane onto the frontage road, Edwards said. But SRF, the design team for the project, does not recommend it, as it believes it could slow traffic and impede the number of vehicles that get through the intersection on each cycle of lights.
“This is just conceptual approval,” Edwards told the City Council. “It will come back to the city later for final approval.”
The two other concepts approved include:
n A railroad crossing for bridge traffic. Two gates and a raised median have been suggested, making it physically impossible for people to drive around the barriers when a train is approaching.
This might add to the project cost, Edwards said, but it is eligible for the funding being used on the project.
n A sub-structure and base design. The current design supports two driving and one bike lane.
The bridge project is a joint effort of the city and Otter Tail County. The city expects to receive $4.9 million in federal funds; about $2 million in state bridge bond money; and the city and county will contribute about $1.05 million each from their state gas tax funds.
Construction should take place 2009-2010.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by Callie25 (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think everyone in this town should be outraged at the exorbitant waste of money being spent on this project when you consider that the streets in this town are crumbling right in front of our eyes. That's government for you.
Posted by bucksteel (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's a $9 million project - the Feds are kicking in $4.9 million, and the state another $2 million - so the City pays a million, and the County pays a million. Sounds like a pretty good investment to me.
Posted by sametoyou (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This project is already over 40 years past due. Most of the money is Federal, and if we don't get it, some other city will get it for their "exorbitant waste"! So why not us, if it's going to be wasted anyway? Finally, this city is doing something they have been asked to do for over 40 years!
Posted by otterfan (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 1:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a great idea! Very convenient for those who live on the south/west side of town.
Posted by ANonnyMoose (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I disagree, Callie25. How do you know that our streets are being sacrificed for this new bridge? The city is forced to use different sources of revenue for different things. It's not a sure thing that we're going to go without street repair so that we can have this bridge.
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The article makes mention of grants from federal and state sources. As I understand it, the federal and state money can only be used to help build this bridge. It can't be used to fix our streets instead. Without that extra funding, there will be no bridge, because the city and county certainly can't afford to build it alone. And the federal and state money won't be there to help if the city and county don't do their part by spending their $2.10M. My take on it is: If the city and county have to decide where to spend $2.10M on transportation infrastructure, then this is actually a pretty good "bang for our buck." Even if what you're saying is true -- that we have to choose between the bridge or street repair -- I think the bridge makes sense at this time, because it would be much cheaper to wait and repair the streets later than it would be to wait and build the bridge later.
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I do think the bridge is a good idea. With all the development on the west end of town in the last 40 years -- on both sides of the river -- it seems crazy that there's no way to cross the river west of Union Avenue.
Posted by werty (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 1:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Considering the funds are mostly federal and state and the city and county only have to put in 1.05 million each from gas taxes it sounds like a great plan and a way to make that area of town seem more like part of FF instead of the "outskirt" feel it has.
Oh and Callie25 since some of the funds are coming out of a specific bridge state bond it would seem obvious that we can't use the money to fix crumbling roads. Read the content of the story before making comments.
Nobody should feel "outraged" or think this is a "waste of money" as it seems the city actually procured most of the funds from the state and federal government to improve part of our city.
Posted by Mel (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Those who think that this is a waste of money should go to other parts of the country and see what money is spent on the roads. Ottertail Co. will get a small share of the so called waste that is common in other places. After the road is in everyone will wonder how we got along without it all these years.
Posted by Sumwun (anonymous) on March 18, 2008 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This will be very convenient for getting to the west end of town without having to make the big "horseshoe" loop around Union and around, or going miles out of the way around the airport. I guess if I had purchased one of those nice homes on the S Tower Rd cul de sac, expecting it to be a nice, traffic-free neighborhood I'd be a little ticked.
Posted by jetfire63 (anonymous) on March 19, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Callie25, I don't know what street you live on or what streets you are refering to, but may be this bridge will reduce the traffic on those streets so that when they are repaired they will last longer.
Sumwun, Have you ever driven on South Tower Road? It was constructed with this bridge in mind, to me it appears to be one of the widest streets in Fergus and was built that way before the houses were built there.
Posted by Brandon (anonymous) on March 19, 2008 at 9:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cool. It would be nice to see what it would look like..
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