'Confusion corner' on south side of Grand Forks' downtown set to receive a mini roundabout
Jun. 30—GRAND FORKS — The intersection of Belmont Road, South Fifth Street and Division Avenue, commonly referred to as "confusion corner," is set to receive improvements next year.
A mini roundabout will be constructed at the intersection to alleviate traffic issues. Transportation Project Manager with Bolton & Menk, Chris Dahl, said the mini roundabout will be similar to a traffic circle.
"It's not going to have the robust features of a normal roundabout," Dahl said. "It will have raised curb in the middle, it will have raised curb in the islands, but it won't be the barrier-style curb like a normal roundabout."
Dahl said the intent of the roundabout will be that larger vehicles, including buses, firetrucks and anything bigger than a conventional pick-up truck, will be able to drive over the roundabout.
Pedestrian safety was also another important factor taken into consideration with the concept of the mini roundabout.
"It is a major part of the project, and that's one of the benefits of the mini roundabout itself is that we can pull those pedestrians, bicyclists, non-motorized vehicles away from the intersection itself where cars are turning through it," Dahl said.
Ideas to improve the intersection date back to 2018. A Near Southside Historical Neighborhood Traffic Study completed in 2018 recommended installing a mini roundabout.
The city requested federal funding under the Urban Grant Program in late 2021. In November last year the city was informed by the North Dakota Department of Transportation that the project was selected for funding under the program. City Council members approved authorizing the city to accept the funding during their Nov. 21 City Council meeting.
The Urban Grant Program funds up to a maximum of $1,312,480. The estimated cost for the project, including preliminary and construction engineering, is $1,640,600. The local funding for this project is currently estimated at $328,120 and is proposed to be funded by the Street/Infrastructure fund.
Dahl said Bolton & Menk has until December to put together the designs and plans for the mini roundabout. After that, the project will be bid with construction to be completed next year.
Because of the size of the roundabout, Dahl said no private property will need to be acquired.
Blue Weber, a community outreach specialist with Bolton & Menk, said he has received positive feedback so far from residents in the area on the mini roundabout.
"Most of them are positive about the idea," Weber said. "... We're not here to just say this is what's going to happen. We're here to say we're trying to improve this intersection, what does that look like? And one thing that's been nice is so many people in that area kind of are all saying 'look a roundabout makes a ton of sense here.'"
Dahl and Weber said having roundabouts already in Grand Forks has made it easier to propose the roundabout idea to the community.
"It does help having some in town to familiarize people with that," Dahl said. "I think it's not necessarily going to be a slam dunk. We still have to talk about it, but I think it helps having the experience of other roundabouts in town. It really comes down to education on this specific one given that it's different. It's a mini roundabout."
A public input meeting will be held Thursday, July 20, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Marathon Gas Station Parking Lot, 307 1st Ave. S. Representatives from both the city of Grand Forks and Bolton & Menk will be present to answer questions and discuss concerns people have.
Weber encourages people to reach him to talk more about the roundabout at (710) 960-9107, or at blue.weber@bolton-menk.com.
"For me, I just want to hear from people what they think of that intersection in general with it already being called confusion corner," Weber said. "How can we solve confusion? That's our goal."
