North Dakota Highway 15

North Dakota Highway 15 marker

North Dakota Highway 15
Route information
Maintained by NDDOT
Length: 134.137 mi[1] (215.873 km)
Existed: 1939 – present
Major junctions
West end: US 52 in Fessenden
  US 281 near New Rockford
US 281 in New Rockford
East end: I‑29 / US 81 near Thompson
Location
Counties: Wells, Eddy, Nelson, Grand Forks
Highway system

North Dakota Highways

← ND 14ND 16 →

North Dakota Highway 15 (ND 15) is an east–west highway in central North Dakota. It runs from US 52 in Fessenden to Interstate 29 near Thompson. The route is 133 miles (214 km) in length and was designated in 1939.

Route description

North Dakota Highway 15 begins in Fessenden at an intersection with US 52 and travels east for about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) before beginning a concurrency with ND 30 for 4.5 miles (7.2 km). After the concurrency ends, ND 15 heads east for 7 miles (11 km) before leaving Wells County and entering Eddy County. Seven miles east of the county line, ND 15 begins a concurrency with US 281 and heads north for 2 miles (3.2 km) to enter the city of New Rockford. Just north of New Rockford, ND 15 turns east and travels about 25 miles (40 km) across nearly all of Eddy County to begin a concurrency with ND 20. The concurrency heads north for 8 miles (13 km) before ND 20 forks north and ND 15 forks east. 3 miles (4.8 km) farther east, the route enters Nelson County. 9 miles (14 km) east of the county line, ND 15 reaches the community of Pekin. East of Pekin, the highway intersects ND 1. About 7 miles (11 km) to the southeast of this intersection, ND 15 passes through McVille and about 9 miles (14 km) east of McVille, the highway has a junction with ND 32. The Nelson-Grand Forks county line is 5 miles (8.0 km) east of this intersection. 12 miles (19 km) into Grand Forks County, ND 15 begins a concurrency with ND 18. The route heads 8 miles (13 km) east during this concurrency, passing through Northwood. After the concurrency ends, the highway heads 7 miles (11 km) east, 2 miles (3.2 km) north, and 9 miles (14 km) east before entering Thompson, a southern suburb of Grand Forks. The highway ends 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Thompson at an interchange with Interstate 29 about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of the Red River of the North.[2][3]

The only section of North Dakota Highway 15 that is included in the National Highway System is its concurrency with US 281, which is 3 miles (4.8 km) long.[4] ND 15 is one of the less traveled highways in North Dakota, with average traffic in 2011 at about 200-600 vehicles per day with about 1000-2500 vehicles per day during its concurrency with US 281 and in Grand Forks County.[5]

History

ND 15 was designated in 1939.[6] Since then, its routing has largely remained the same, but it has undergone some changes. Southeast of New Rockford, the route originally turned north and then west to enter New Rockford from the west.[7] It has since been straightened to intersect US 281 south of town.[8] Between just east of Pekin and the south side of Northwood, the highway stair-stepped along through Nelson and Grand Forks counties.[7] To reduce the number of turns, the stair-stepping portion of the highway was straightened into a diagonal and a new alignment was built that passed to the north of Northwood.[9][10] At Thompson, ND 15 originally turned north briefly before turning back to the east to meet US 81.[7] Now the highway keeps going straight to its interchange with I-29 / US 81.[10]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
WellsFessenden0.0000.000 US 52 – Harvey, CarringtonWestern terminus
Roadway continues west as Old Hwy. 52
 5.8549.421 ND 30 north – MaddockWestern end of ND 30 concurrency
 10.34916.655 ND 30 south – CathayEastern end of ND 30 concurrency
Eddy 24.28039.075 US 281 south – CarringtonSouthern end of US 281 concurrency
New Rockford27.22643.816 US 281 north – Churchs FerryNorthern end of US 281 concurrency
 52.32984.215 ND 20 south – JamestownSouthern end of ND 20 concurrency
 60.44497.275 ND 20 north – Devils LakeNorthern end of ND 20 concurrency
Nelson 73.570118.399 ND 1 – Lakota, Hannaford
 89.872144.635 ND 32 – Petersburg, Aneta
Grand Forks 106.836171.936 ND 18 north – LarimoreWestern end of ND 18 concurrency
 114.902184.917 ND 18 south – HattonEastern end of ND 18 concurrency
 134.137215.873 I‑29 / US 81 – Grand Forks, FargoEastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 staff (2009). Route and Mileage Map (Map). North Dakota Department of Transportation.
  2. ↑ Google (2012-07-12). "North Dakota Highway 15" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  3. ↑ http://northdakota.hometownlocator.com/maps/
  4. ↑ http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/nhs_maps/north_dakota/nd_northdakota.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.dot.nd.gov/road-map/pdf/traffic/trafficstate_2013.pdf
  6. ↑ Mileage retrieved from North Dakota Highways 1 to 30 unless otherwise noted.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Road and Reference Atlas (Map). 1 in (25 mm) = 20 mi (32 km). Rand McNally & Company. 1947. p. 69. § E8–11.
  8. ↑ General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Eddy County. North Dakota Department of Transportation. 2004. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Nelson County. North Dakota Department of Transportation. 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Grand Forks County. North Dakota Department of Transportation. 2006. p. 2. Retrieved July 14, 2012.

External links

Route map: Bing