Underpass underway: Downtown Moorhead project separating trains and traffic

Construction has begun on the 11th Street underpass in Moorhead, a $120 million project to shift traffic and pedestrians away from trains north of downtown.

It involves building underpasses where currently a railroad line crosses three city streets; the roadway will be lowered and the railroad will remain at the same grade.

Emma Olson, public affairs coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said the aim is simple. “Making it safer for everybody is really the project in a nutshell,” she said.

The idea is to separate trains from cars, cyclists and pedestrians commuting through the area. The project also includes new Americans with Disabilities Act compliant sidewalks.

Up till now trains cross directly through traffic at First Avenue, Center Avenue and Main Avenue.

Bikers, pedestrians and drivers — including emergency responders — get hung up at these intersections, Olson said, which she calls main thoroughfares through the city.

Olson said this is a busy thoroughfare, and the projects will “kind of move that traffic through and not having them getting stuck behind a train, because there’s a lot of trains that move through this area, and a lot of hours spent people sitting and waiting.”

The project has garnered broad political support. Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who helped secure over $26 million in federal funds, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited the site as construction kicked off.

“Moorhead is one of the fastest-growing cities in our state and everyone who lives here knows that the 11th Street underpass project couldn’t have come any sooner,” Klobuchar said in a post on X. “Once built, the new underpass will make driving up and down 11th Street a safer experience for decades to come.”

Construction will unfold in three phases and is expected to be complete in November 2026. Train travel is not likely to be interrupted.

Train horns may be used when workers are out from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., mostly on weekdays, Olson said, depending on weather. She said there is potential for soil contamination; environmental coordinators are on site.

Olson said the project will look similar to the 20th Street underpass in Moorhead built several years ago.

People can find updates, project details and sign up for email updates at dot.state.mn.us.

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