Moorhead will finally get its railroad underpass near Moorhead Senior High School where trains come through the city every day. Traffic backs up and people simmer.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mark Dayton signed off on the Omnibus Bonding Bill, supporting Moorhead’s underpass project of $42.3 million. Moorhead Mayor Del Rae Williams said, “we asked for and got the whole amount. This is the third year that it has been brought forward in a budget.”
In 2014, Williams met the governor at a listening session he had in Moorhead regarding railway safety. She told him the city was in the process of applying for a fourth TGR federal grant for only $19 million of the project cost. Gov. Dayton told her the city should apply for state funds instead. “When a governor tells you that, you do it. Our staff did their magic and the governor had our project in his 2015 budget at the full amount. He also invited me to speak about our needs at his press conference. Our legislators have been very helpful, plus last year when I did an Internet activist letter campaign, thousands of Moorhead residents helped by sending letters to the Senate and House leadership.
“Moorhead’s underpass need became well known. We were in all the budgets last year and this year. We just needed them to agree on the Omnibus bill as a whole,” Williams said. “The project will be built over two years. The project is shovel ready so we expect to bid out this year so we can be part of the 2018 construction season.”
Williams and others have been concerned about the safety issue on 21st Street for years. First responders have sometimes had to wait for trains. There have been more than 200 times in the past year that trains caused delays.
The Minnesota House budget included the funding for the Moorhead project. The governor and some lawmakers are still at odds about other funding but the governor chose to avoid further budget delays.
This was a generally positive legislative session for the city. Moorhead’s water treatment plant received funding. Moorhead businesses should benefit from property tax breaks and contractors will have eased regulations for sprinklers in twin homes.
