The Lincoln City Council rejected the recommendation of a Lincoln to Bismarck roadway connection study, believing the community deserves better.

Scott McBride, senior transportation engineer for SEH Inc., presented the council the draft study report at Thursday night's meeting. SEH was contracted by the Metropolitan Planning Organization to do the study.

The report recommends using existing routes between Bismarck and the bedroom community of about 2,000 just to its southeast. It calls for a number of enhancements to the roads which connect the two communities to better accommodate traffic flows and improve safety.

McBride said the recommendation is not the best alternative coming out of the study, but based on expense and funding it is the most likely. McBride told council members that a new route connecting 52nd Street to Airway Avenue via the abandoned Soo Line railroad grade is a better route.

"If we were given the money, $3 million to $4 million, this alternative coming across country is a great transportation route," McBride said. "But nobody is jumping up with a bag of money to fund this. Money is tight."

The existing route using Lincoln Road, Airway Avenue and Yegen Road to connect with Bismarck Expressway is much more serpentine, McBride said, but can be built for some $500,000. Improvements to Yegen Road are already in the works as part of the Northern Plains Commerce Centre project. The most expensive part is softening of the Yegen Road-Airway Avenue intersection after the portion of Airway west of the intersection is closed.

Earlier this week, the Burleigh County Commission approved asking the city of Bismarck to pay for the Yegen-Airway intersection improvement, since it is Bismarck's plan to close Airway as part of its NPCC project.

"I feel the citizens of Lincoln deserve better and I don't think the recommended route is the best. More can be done for the city of Lincoln," council member Mary Ann Filibek said.

Council member Kathy Schnaible agreed, and said that Lincoln residents might be willing to contribute more to the project if they would get the route they wanted.

McBride said property owners in the area just northwest of Lincoln had a great deal of interest in seeing the alternate route developed.

Bob Harms, one of those property owners, agreed and said he and the other owners are willing to contribute right of way for the road which would connect 52nd Street to Airway Avenue. He pointed out that if it became a federal project, it would receive 80 percent federal funding, leaving about $640,000 to be paid by local jurisdictions.

Council member Karen Daly made the motion to reject the SEH report because it is not sufficient to meet the needs of Lincoln.

Andrew Horning, one of two candidates for three council seats in the June election, cautioned the council on what tone the letter would take. He also said he worried about where the money would come from if the road doesn't become a federal project and the cost would have to be handled by the state and local jurisdictions.

"Be careful of the wording and don't be picking a fight, otherwise they'll get defensive," Horning said. "Besides, once the NPCC comes in, we're going to see a lot more truck traffic on Yegen, which we might want to avoid. I plan on using 66th Street."

Daly responded that the council needed to indicate they were dissatisfied with the study. "If we don't tell them, they'll think we're happy with it," she said.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)