FARGO (KFGO/KVRR) — The Cass County Commission has approved expanding some county roads near the proposed site of an AI data center near Harwood.
The expansion adds a bypass, right turn lanes, and two access approaches on Cass Highway 22 at the intersection of 45th Street N., and on Cass County Highway 81 north of 64th Avenue N.
Applied Digital, the Texas-based company planning the data center, will cover design, construction, and inspection costs of the initial improvements, and the county will pay for maintenance. The Cass County Highway department worked with Applied Digital in making the proposal.
The commission asked the Sheriff’s Office to do a safety study on the impact increased traffic will have in the area. County engineer Kyle Litchy says they did not conduct a traffic study, citing a need to work fast to complete the data center.
“They want to start construction now, basically, so we want to make sure that that improvement is in before the end of the year, so we didn’t have time to do our normal traffic study. We had to just either go with it or don’t and we decided to go with it,” said Litchy.
Harwood Mayor Blake Hankey also spoke at the meeting in favor of the project.
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