Background

17th Street N is a major collector roadway located on the north side of Moorhead, MN. The corridor runs one mile from 1st Ave N to 15th Ave N where it is terminated by T intersections on both ends. Land uses along the corridor are primarily single family residences, with the southern three blocks comprised of commercial uses and a private school.

The roadway is a two lane road with parking on both sides. For the southern three blocks the roadway transitions to a three-lane section. The corridor is known for its excessive width with a curb-to-curb width of 60 feet and an estimated right-of-way of 140 feet.

The City of Moorhead has discussed needed pavement improvements of this corridor, so reconfiguring of the roadway layout should be highly considered as part of the proposed roadwork. The current roadway and right-of-way widths present a great opportunity to improve the corridor’s aesthetics, quality of life, multi-modal safety, provide traffic calming, provide bicycle facilities, and more. This corridor has the potential to be unique to the Fargo-Moorhead Area.

Objective

The objective of this study is to:

• Gather existing conditions and determine existing and future needs along the corridor.

• Provide planning-level corridor alternatives that would improve the corridor’s aesthetics, multi-modal safety, provide traffic calming, provide bicycle facilities, and more. Alternatives should include graphics (sketches / renderings), comparison of alternatives, and planning-level cost estimates.

• Gather input from the public, stakeholders, and adjacent landowners to help guide feasible corridor alternatives.

• Prepare a final report that will include but not be limited to: existing conditions, public involvement, graphics, corridor alternatives and costs, and recommendations.

• Provide options and alternatives to funding the corridor improvements.

Public Input

Friday, August 7^th - Monday, August 31^st, 2020

Metro COG held an initial online public input opportunity, in place of a traditional open house, which began on Friday, August 7^th, and ended on Monday, August 31^st.  Members of the community were able to watch an informational video, provide comments, and were able to take a survey about what they saw as the biggest opportunities/challenges along the corridor.  A summary of the initial public engagement results can be viewed by clicking the blue-button above. 

VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE - Wednesday, December 16^th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Metro COG also hosted a virtual open house via Zoom Video Communications on Wednesday, December 16^th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Members of the 17^th St N Corridor Study project team presented project background, corridor alternatives, and the project's next steps.  There was a live question and answer session with the opportunity to provide direct feedback to the corridor study team on the corridor alternatives. 

Monday, November 30^th - Monday, December 21^st, 2020

Metro COG held the second online public input opportunity, in place of a traditional open house, beginning Monday, November 30^th, and ending on Monday, December 21^st.  Members of the community were able to learn more about the proposed 17^th St N corridor alternatives, take a survey on which alternatives or portions thereof that they prefer, and provide additional feedback.  A summary of second-round public engagement will be provided on this webpage as soon as it is available.

Thursday, February 4^th - Thursday, February 18^th, 2021 

The results of prior engagement efforts for Segment 2 (residential segment) determined that members of the public would like to maintain the corridor's existing curb-to-curb width, on-street parking, and driveway access.  Respondents also wanted to add traffic calming (reduce vehicle speed), improve pedestrian crossings, and add bicycle trail connections.  Metro COG and the study team developed two additional concepts for Segment 2 based upon feedback received that meets these requirements.  The public was asked to provide feedback on each alternative by completing a survey or contacting the project team directly.