Red River Bridge Replacement - 12th Ave N Fargo/15th Ave N Moorhead

Project Overview

The City of Fargo, in coordination with the City of Moorhead and the Federal Highway Administration, is proposing to replace the bridge crossing over the Red River of the North (Red River) connecting 12th Avenue North in Fargo and 15th Avenue North in Moorhead. The bridge serves as a critical two-state river crossing connecting North Dakota and Minnesota within the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. The bridge was originally opened to traffic in 1988 as a privately operated toll bridge. Now, it is jointly owned by the cities of Fargo and Moorhead.

Purpose

The purpose of the proposed project is to provide a bridge across 12th Avenue North / 15th Avenue North that maintains a continuous, year-round connection across the Red River, meeting the identified transportation goals of the City of Fargo.

After the completion of the Fargo Moorhead Diversion project, the existing bridge will still continue to be impacted by high river levels. The diversion is designed to activate when the Red River reaches 37 feet and is designed that way to reduce downstream impacts. The existing bridge floods when the river reaches approximately 28.5 feet, far before the Diversion is activated. The existing bridge has needed to be closed seven times for a duration up to 6 weeks each time in the last 16 years. When the bridge closes, up to 10,000 vehicles per day must be detoured through downtown Fargo and Moorhead to either the 1st Avenue North, Northern Pacific Avenue, or the Main Avenue bridge, an approximate 3-mile detour. This detour must also be utilized by the first responders and emergency service vehicles of the Red River Regional Dispatch Center, a joint venture of first responders that serve both Fargo and Moorhead. This detour greatly reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of the shared first responder network, including ambulance service.

Our goal with this project is to raise the bridge above the 100-year FEMA flood elevation of 37 feet post FM Diversion construction. This will allow the communities to fully utilize the benefits received by the FM Diversion project. The River Stage Chart under "Supporting Documents" illustrates the river stage impacts to the bridge with and without the Diversion in place. For more information about the FM Diversion project, please visit https://fmdiversion.gov/.

Funding

The City of Fargo was awarded $1.5 million through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Discretionary Grant Program. These dollars will be used to complete the environmental studies, preliminary design activities, final design, and construction documents.

Currently, there is no funding identified to construct the proposed project. The Cities of Fargo and Moorhead are reviewing all options available to them including future grant opportunities to help fund the project.

Project Timeline

The project team is currently working on preliminary design and environmental studies. These tasks are scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2026. From there, the team will move into final design and construction documents with an anticipated completion of January 2027.

There is currently no set timeline for the construction of this project.

Preliminary Design Concepts

Several alignments have been reviewed and narrowed down to two alternatives.

• Alternative 1 will maintain the existing roadway and bridge alignment.
• Alternative 2 will shift the roadway to the north to increase constructability and reduce impacts to private property.

Both alternatives will raise the proposed structure out of the 100-year FEMA floodplain with the Fargo-Moorhead Diversion project in place. Raising the bridge out of the floodplain will result in the proposed structure being 15-feet to 20-feet higher than the existing bridge. See "Alignment Alternatives" in the Supporting Documents Section to view the proposed layouts.

This project is also evaluating potential improvements to the 12th Avenue North and Elm Street intersection.

Section 4(f) and Section 6(f) Properties

Jack Williams Stadium and Mickelson Park (Section 4(f) and Section 6(f) properties) and Trefoil Park (Section 4(f) property) are located on the south and north sides of 12th Avenue N in Fargo. For more information on 4(f) and 6(f) meaning and requirements, please see information in the Supporting Documents section.