With the closure of 4th Street NW/River Road at Gateway Drive today and the pending closures of the Sorlie Bridge and the Point Bridge the East Grand Forks Police Department is asking drivers to plan ahead and help to minimize traffic delays.
If and when the Point and Sorlie Bridges are closed (and that is tentatively scheduled to happen on Thursday) all traffic between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks must cross the Kennedy Bridge on Highway 2/Gateway Drive. This causes obvious traffic issues which are especially pronounced during morning and evening “rush hours”. Drivers who can avoid driving across the Kennedy Bridge during those peak times (roughly 7:00 to 9:00 AM and 3:00 to 6:00 PM) should try to do so. If the Louis Murray Bridge over the Red Lake River in east Grand Forks needs to close access to the Point area of East Grand Forks would be by way of the Mallory Bridge on Highway 220 South. This detour can add extensively to drive times – especially during those peak hours. If drivers plan ahead and leave earlier then they would normally need to traffic delays can be minimized. It is likely that a variety or detours, lane changes and manual traffic control may be used in the coming weeks and drivers should be extra careful during their daily commutes. As a further reminder, an officer conducting manual traffic control takes precedence over any traffic signal and drivers need to be aware of this type of activity for their own safety and the safety of the officers.
A variety of flood related information, including road and bridge closures, can be found at the City of East Grand Forks website: www.egf.mn
Release prepared by: Michael S. Hedlund – Chief of Police
For further information contact the EGFPD: 218-773-1104