Stalled 24th Ave road project to proceed after flooding concerns addressed
By M.K. French
Farmer Staff Writer
After a bit of a hang-up, McKenzie County Commission Board took action to get the 24th Avenue project back on track last week. A planned road project on 24th Avenue Southwest in Watford City had been delayed due to a dispute over potential flooding, which caused concerned landowners to refuse an easement until their fears could be addressed. At the May 6, 2025, meeting of the McKenzie County Board of Commissioners, landowners Ian Brothers and Brian Vandrehele voiced their concerns about the project’s impact on their properties.
Brothers addressed the board, stating, “All we’ve asked is that you don’t make our property worse.” He explained that the county’s plan to replace existing 36-inch and 48-inch culverts with 21 feet of culvert would significantly increase water flow through their properties. “You open up the cubic feet per second, or acre feet... you’re going to flood our property,” Brothers warned. Vandrehele added that during past heavy weather events, the existing culverts “choked it back,” preventing flooding of his home and garage. He fears that the proposed larger culverts would “bring all that water closer to our houses.” The landowners are seeking a solution to mitigate the increased water flow. Brothers suggested, “If you’re not willing to dredge, do something to take the water away, all we ask is you leave the culverts that are already there.”
Engineer Grace Demars addressed the landowners’ and commissioners’ questions. She explained that the proposed 21-foot box culvert is the “smallest that we could get approved by the state” for the reconstruction project. Demars also referenced a past meeting with Barr Engineering, who was consulted to perform a hydraulic review to ensure the project wouldn’t negatively impact the landowners. Demars stated, “We’re not showing that we’re encumbering their property with this project as it’s proposed.”
Commissioner Clint Wold stated, “If we just mill and overlay it, we’re done. Then our other conflicts go away as well.” This option would involve paving over the existing road without replacing the culverts. Demars noted that this approach might mean “possibly losing the walking/bike path,” and that the road would eventually need more extensive work in the future.
The commissioners also raised a safety concern about transitioning from a wider, newly constructed road to the existing, narrower section. Demars clarified that the road top is still about 24 feet wide. The board also discussed the possibility of dredging to alleviate the landowners’ concerns. Commissioner Joel Brown stated, “I would be open to the idea of going and dredging if that would satisfy the concerns here.”
After extensive discussion, a motion was made to mill and overlay the road so that the project could proceed, with the commissioners prioritizing moving the project forward to completion, possibly even this year. After asking the landowners if this would satisfy their concerns, the motion passed unanimously.
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