Fargo City Administrator Michael Redlinger
FARGO, N.D. — The City of Fargo plans to temporarily relocate operations from its Ground Transportation Center (GTC) and adjacent Municipal Court due to newly emerging structural issues.
During a recent City Commission meeting, city leaders discussed options to move MATbus transfers and court operations after determining that further physical repairs are no longer feasible. While the structure underwent repairs in 2020, City Administrator Michael Redlinger stated that “new issues that are occurring at the structure” would be “pretty cost prohibitive for us to remedy at this juncture”.
“Before we invest additional dollars to further rehabilitate the facility, that we really kind of stop and really think about where the future transit should be, and probably more importantly, where we want that investment to occur,” Redlinger said. “We believe that finding a new location is really going to be the best path forward for us.”
To avoid interrupting daily transit service for patrons, the City Commission authorized staff to move operations temporarily to city-owned property along 4th Street near the Civic Center—a site used during previous GTC renovations.
“Because we’re not only going to be temporarily relocating them, we’re also going to be permanently finding that other spot for them to be,” Redlinger explained. “And so not knowing where that is yet, we just need to keep the communication lines open so that when that time is right, and we have that spot identified, we’re very, very clearly getting in front of them so that they know where to go on a Monday, a Tuesday, a Wednesday, when they desire to ride MATbus.”
City officials explored potential partnerships with neighboring jurisdictions, including West Fargo and Cass County. Although West Fargo staff had available room, officials determined that moving services there would be “removing our customer by several miles from where that service is really best rendered, and that is downtown.”
Redlinger noted that “cost effectiveness was a really kind of key criteria” in selecting temporary city-owned facilities. The initial relocation costs “will be borne by the current budget in 2026,” though the city will likely “need to adapt the 2027 and likely the 2028 budget to accommodate some different expenses” as long-term leasing or construction plans materialize.
City administration expects the transition to be “a top priority for administration, our finance department for really the next 60, 90 days,” with ongoing operational updates delivered via news releases, website postings, and future commission meetings.
