JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – During a special meeting Wednesday, the City of Jamestown approved their draft decision document regarding Exit 257 West of Jamestown.

Currently, the North Dakota Department of Transportation is working on a plan that would ultimately close the exit, which is one of five left-lane exits on Interstates in North Dakota.

After re-prioritizing the Land Use & Transportation list, Mayor Katie Andersen stated she would support keeping Exit 257 open until they had a project in place to replace it.

Before, the city approved to keep the on and off ramps of Exit 257 open pending the construction of another overhead bypass that would connect 17h Street SW to the hospital.

The NDDOT took the city’s and resident’s comments and presented several proposals for Jamestown to consider. Acting City Engineer Travis Dillman gave the proposals to the council.

Dillman says the NDDOT dropped the cost of the project if the council accepted option C. The price dropped because the NDDOT reported that they would then not conduct mill and overlay on 17th Avenue SW.

Mayor Katie Andersen asked Dillman if they could accept option C, but also ask for mill and overlay still on Frontage Road. Dillman said the NDDOT would weigh the city’s comments heavily.

The city voted to approve option C while recommending mill and overlay still be conducted on the Frontage Road. The vote was unanimous.