Bismarck’s Washington Street To Be Way Worse Than Usual.

Bismarck's Washington Street is often a necessary evil.

Just today I was telling the story of when I first arrived in Bismarck over 20 years ago.  It was all innocent enough, I was heading back home around 5 PM one day when I found myself on Washington Street heading south. This was before the lane improvements were added along Washington so traffic was pretty much at a crawl.

I swore I would never take Washington during peak traffic times.

Just two weeks later, due to a momentary lapse of reason, I was back on Washington Street at about the same time of day.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...that's just me being a big dope.

Has Washington Street now become unavoidable?

Having learned my lesson, I now travel on Washington during low-traffic times. But with the explosion of business and housing in North Bismarck, Washington Street has become almost unavoidable when looking to head to Northwest Bismarck. I live down south, so I'm not familiar with the sneaky roads northerners use to avoid North Washington.  Well, construction kicked off today that may have many investigating those alternate routes.

It's not a lengthy piece of roadwork, but it will sure add time to your trip

So here's what's going down over the next ten days on North Washington. Looking at the area, there doesn't seem to be an alternate route so I'll go along with the City of Bismarck when they say "Your patience is greatly appreciated".  Just one lane heading both north and south is gonna be squeezing a lot of traffic through a small space.

Washington Street Work Zone – Century Avenue to Calgary Avenue

Starting 7:00 AM Tuesday, August 16, 2022, Washington Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction from Century Avenue to Calgary Avenue. The lane reduction will be in place for roadway work.

This lane reduction will be in place for approximately 10-days, weather permitting.

Traffic can expect higher than normal congestion during peak traffic hours and are advised to seek alternate routes.

Good luck y'all!  May the patience be with you.