6:05 a.m.: Good morning, everyone. For folks who live and work in south Moorhead, we have some great news for you today. That diverging diamond, part of it, over I-94 is open today. I just drove through it a couple minutes ago. It’s easy – just follow the arrows and stay in the lane. It’s like a road course … actually kind of fun! It has some curves in it. You can get take it from south to north, but you can’t get through from north to south yet. That’ll come the middle to the end of next week. I’m going to head back out now … Al Aamodt in Moorhead reporting for “Valley Today.”
It’s been a big summer for Al Aamodt, the dean of Fargo-Moorhead newsmen. As always, he spends the wee hours in the newsroom at KVLY-TV, where he’s the assignment editor, before taking to the road. From 6 to 8 every weekday morning, he’s the eyes of the metro’s drivers, negotiating endless construction zones and reporting on traffic tie-ups.
Al hustles up, down, around and through Fargo and Moorhead to see what’s in store for commuters still at home sipping their first cups of coffee. He’s been doing firsthand traffic reports for Valley News Live’s early news, since the summer of 2014. Before returning to television, his reporting duties at KFGO Radio included similar morning updates for commuters.
6:15 a.m.: We’re on I-29 now, and traffic is brisk, let me tell you. It’s really moving. If you’re not doing 65, it’s pretty easy to get run over. North of the F-M area between Gardner and Argusville, they’ll be paving starting today. … Approaching the tri-level, this is Al Aamodt reporting.
“We knew this construction season was going to be a challenge, but I don’t think that, as a community, we were really prepared for this – not at all,” reflects the Barnesville native and MSUM grad, who’s spent his entire career on the air in Fargo-Moorhead. “This has turned out to be beyond huge.
“We knew that the new interchange in Moorhead would be enormous, and that work in the West Acres area was going to be a monster.
“But with the downtown Moorhead project and the floodwall on the Fargo side on top of that – there’s never been another summer like this one. And we probably won’t ever see another.”
Through it all, he’s been leaving the station at quarter to 6 to see what’s shaking on the metro loop. He racks up about 50 miles over the next hour, personally driving through every area on which he reports.
“Do I ever fudge it? Go ahead … ask me,” he teases. The answer: No, not once, not ever. Through rain and shine, blizzards and pea-soup fog, crashes that stall the traffic traffic and those vexing double-lane back-ups onto Exit 1B at 20th Street in Moorhead, if it’s Al reporting, you can bet Al’s on the spot.
6:25 a.m.: I’m on 34th Street in Moorhead, heading back to the interstate. It looks like Minnesota DOT crews are setting up to close a lane on I-94 right around 20th Street. There’s a whole armada of trucks with flashing lights and arrow signs and that kind of stuff. I’ll have a little bit better handle on it by the time we get to our next traffic report. So plan for that, and plan for driving that diverging diamond on Eighth Street. I’ll get back to you in 10. Al Aamodt for “Valley Today.”
A fresh 18-year-old graduate of from Barnesville High School, Al headed in 1966 for the Brown Institute of Radio and TV Broadcasting. He’d been on the air at KEHG-AM in Fosston, Minn., for just nine months when he was drafted. After 14 months, 6 days in Vietnam, he returned to the F-M area, where his younger brother Dave – already a mass communications major at Moorhead State College – suggested he take a look at the program. He fell in love with it; mentored by the late Marv Bossart, he graduated in 1973.
He briefly worked at KXJB-TV before joining WDAY in 1974, where legendary news director Norm Schroeder took him under his wing. He eventually took over that position himself, continuing to lead the reporting staff until 2010.
He and the station parted ways. He joined the news staff at KFGO Radio the next year. “They had the first local traffic reporter. After he left, Jack Sunday asked me,” Al recalls. “My first thought was, ‘Why in hell do we need a traffic reporter?’ But it’s good to reinvent yourself every once in awhile. I’ve always approached the reports as a newsman. And, you know what? It’s fun.”
A lifelong “car guy,” he savors spotting good-looking vehicles around him. That led to his popular “car of the day,” spotlighting interesting wheels along the way. He still counts convertibles along his routes and admires handsome SUVs braving the weather on cruel winter days.
6:35 a.m.: OK, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. I was right about losing a lane between 20th Street and Eighth Street – don’t know what they’re doing out there, but I did see a mower. … I’m in Fargo now at Main and South University, where traffic is very brisk. … Speaking of Moorhead, the intersection of Main and Eighth Street is cleaning up a lot. … Heading west in Fargo, Al Aamodt, “Valley Today” traffic.
“Our viewers really appreciate having a firsthand idea of what the driving is like when the weather gets really bad,” he says. Besides, that’s when his reporter instincts kick in. “It’s always more fun when something’s going on,” he concedes, adding that the weigh station east of Moorhead on I-94 is the best vantage point for blizzard reports: “That spot gets probably the worst weather in Minnesota.”
He’s in frequent touch with MnDOT, NDDOT’s Kevin, the Cass and Clay sheriffs, police on both sides of the river, Minnesota Highway Patrol Sgt. Jesse Grabow, and his buddies in Fargo Public Works. Often he’s calling them for road updates. Sometimes, though, Al lets them know about hazards he spots himself.
6:45 a.m.: We have a potential accident generator on 25th Street on the north side of the overpass – some construction materials, a broken pallet – and folks are trying to avoid it, like I just did. Keep an eye on your mirror in case someone is beside you. … 25th isn’t too bad this morning. Now I’m on 32nd Avenue South heading back out to the interstate to see what’s shaking out there … This is Al Aamodt.
He’s a dyed-in-the-wool early riser – a good habit for one who, in addition to his traffic reports, spends 8 to 10 hours a day on his station’s newscasts “The funniest part of this job? Most people think I only do the traffic,” he confides. “Far from it.
He arrives at work from his home in Horace at 4 a.m. “I don’t mind the hours. I’ve always loved the sunrise,” he says. “Every morning is a new beginning.” He spends the next two hours planning the day, then takes to the highway.
Back at 8, he takes his daily vitamins with a can of Diet 7-Up (he hates coffee) and then finished his research in time for the daily staff meeting at 9:30. He goes on to write several stories for the noon newscast. He leaves at 12:15 Monday and Wednesday to pursue one of his greatest pleasures – teaching media writing in the MSUM program from which he graduated 43 years ago. “The best part of my day is spending time with the kids. I shouldn’t call them ‘kids’ … but anyway. I get so much back from them – that energy that recharges my battery – that being there is almost selfish.”
6:55 a.m.: We’re back out here in Moorhead on I-94 in the work zone. Traffic seems to be moving through here just fine this morning, particularly westbound, where we’ve been seeing a lot of backups in the past. I’m about to pull off on 20th Street – pretty busy out here, that’s for sure, with lots of traffic action. Remember, part of the diverging diamond is open today. That should really make a difference in traffic flow. Al Aamodt reporting.
Al and his wife of 41 years, Renee, have three adult children, all in the F-M area: Lindsay, Emily Nicole and Nathan, who’s been cursed with the lifelong nickname Fuzz. Between them, they’ve provided their folks with eight grandchildren, ranging from 17 to 1. A ninth is expected in November.
7:55 a.m.: Still some congestion here on the Moorhead side, but it’s the best morning in a long, long time on Eighth Street over I-94. A lot of people are using the new lane over the highway. Yay! … Al Aamodt with traffic for “Valley Today.”
“Do I have pet peeves? DO I?” His answer, naturally, is yes.
“I am sick to death of driving down the road and seeing people on all sides of me who are texting,” Al growls – that deep rumble that his listeners know by heart. “They have absolutely no regard for anyone else.
“And drivers who don’t get up to speed on the ramps. They enter the highway at 35 mph – a huge hazard.” He saves some wrath, though, for those already jetting down the road. “What else? SUVs coming down the road at 65 who won’t yield an inch to let you in.”
Overall, though, his approach is thoroughly positive.
“I’m proud of this work. I put a lot of effort into it,” the area’s most distinguished TV newsman reflects. “I have to be creative over eight traffic reports a day … and honest. I’m always looking for different ways to tell a story that’s accurate and interesting. My job is to make sure people know what to avoid on their way to work – or at least prepare them to deal with it.”
