Starting Tuesday, September 3 and lasting through mid-October, motorists in Moorhead will encounter additional closures and traffic changes near the intersection of 1 Ave and 8 St. Crews will begin installing and connecting the storm sewer pipe from W.H. Davy-Memorial Park to the future lift station at 1 Ave and 11 St.

The storm sewer work will be done over two phases, each lasting approximately three weeks, weather permitting:

• Phase 1: First Avenue to close just west of 8 St. Traffic will be detoured to Center Ave and 7 St.
• Phase 2: First Avenue closes between 8 St and 9 St. The detour to/from northern Moorhead will switch from 9 St to 8 St, and traffic will be directed to 7 St to cross the railroad tracks.

When phase two of the storm sewer work is completed, 1 Ave will remain closed east of 8 St to 12 St. The new detour will follow 8 St, 2 Ave N and 14 St.

Underpass construction progress

With the City of Moorhead’s project on 2 Ave N now complete, the north detour route has been adjusted and traffic is now using 2 Ave North as part of that detour route going forward. 

Work continues on switching the KO line over to the new shooflys, the temporary tracks for the trains while the bridges are constructed. By the end of this week, all trains should be operating on the shoofly tracks. 

The Hillsboro shoofly has been operational since July, and work has started on the Hillsboro bridge, including excavation and piling for the west abutment.

At the site of the future lift station, near 1 Ave and 11 Street, they've finished excavating and will pour the foundation next week. After that, they'll begin forming the walls. In that same area, they have driven in the sheets for the retaining wall by the Fire Station. For this process, they have to wait approximately two weeks to see if there's any movement to the sheets before they can continue that work. 

Over in Memorial Park, the outfall work is nearly complete. There are several parts to the storm sewer system that are specifically designed for this project to help pump water from the underpasses. The lift station at 1 Ave and 11 St will pump water through pressurized pipes to the force main vault. Once the water gets to the force mail vault, gravity helps the water flow to the river. The gravity flow pipe is done, and now crews are working on laying the pressurized pipe. This pipe is what will be installed across 1 Ave when that work starts after Labor Day.  

In addition, there is currently work taking place on 2 Ave S, with curb and gutter planned for install next week. 

More information

Please report any issues to the 11th Street Underpass hotline number at 218-292-8779.

For more information about this project and to sign up directly for their newsletter, please visit mndot.gov/d4/projects/moorhead11thstunderpass.