Hope, it's been said, is a dangerous thing. So when we discuss the possibility of an 11th Street North underpass in Moorhead, dipping beneath the two sets of railroad tracks between Main, Center and First avenues, keep in mind that being hopeful might lead to disappointment.

These BNSF Railway tracks have been causing headaches - and tardiness - for decades. Running east and west through the middle of downtown Moorhead, trains often block traffic on several streets.

That includes busy 11th Street, a main north-south road that stretches from the old Oakport Township, past the American Crystal Sugar Co. beet plant and Clay County Courthouse, through downtown and past Hornbacher's before continuing to Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College and points beyond.

It is a never-ending source of frustration for residents and visitors that there is no way under the tracks in downtown Moorhead. If you're stuck by a slow-moving (or stopped) train, you're stuck.

But there is a glimmer of hope - there's that word - that funding to begin construction on an underpass is within reach. It is a long reach, certainly nothing to get too excited about yet, but the glimmer exists.

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Moorhead officials have made their pitch at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul, and there is a $7 million request in this legislative session's bonding bill for pre-design and engineering for an 11th Street underpass. Total cost of the project is estimated to be about $60 million.

"The feedback seemed positive, although it's hard to tell," Moorhead Mayor Del Rae Williams said.

It's just one small appeal among the $3.3 billion in bonding requests. Gov. Mark Dayton is seeking $1.5 billion for projects around the state. The Legislature will decide the final number. It authorized about $1 billion in bonding last year.

"We always say 'no' way more often than we say 'yes' on these bonding requests," said Sen. Kent Eken, D-Twin Valley, a member of the Capital Investment Committee.

Both Eken and Rep. Ben Lien, D-Moorhead, say they've made the underpass a priority, along with a handful of other local bonding requests.

"It's something people have wanted for years," Eken said, in perhaps the biggest understatement uttered this week.

An 11th Street underpass has been tossed about seriously since about 2006, Moorhead City Engineer Bob Zimmerman said, although the concept has been studied since at least the 1970s. The issue is funding, as it always is in small cities a long distance from St. Paul.

But Moorhead had success in last year's legislative session, getting money for the long-sought Main-20th-21st Street underpass near the high school. Construction on that important project will begin this spring.

City officials also believe there is a chance at federal funding for the 11th Street project. Moorhead made a request through a federal program called Infrastructure for Rebuilding America. It combined the cost of the Main-20th-21st underpass with the 11th Street project - a total of about $106 million - in hopes of securing $35 million.

It has an important supporter. The Great Northern Corridor Coalition, a regional cooperative of stakeholders (including BNSF) stretching eight states from Illinois to Washington state, has identified the project as critical and will advocate for it in Washington, D.C., along with Moorhead and Minnesota Department of Transportation officials next month.

"We're super excited about this," said coalition Executive Director Curtis Shuck Jr. "From our perspective in the freight community, anything that makes our ability to move things more efficiently and more safely is critical. This is a very strong project. We'll lend very heavy support to it."

BNSF spokesperson Amy McBeth said the railroad will also support Moorhead's efforts for federal funding because grade separations improve public safety and allow car and train traffic to move without interruption.

Zimmerman said he'd expect to hear about federal funding by mid-summer. He said if everything goes exactly right and construction begins as soon as possible, 11th Street could have an underpass by 2023 or 2024.

"I would feel really good if I could leave office with both of these projects finished, or at least on the way to being finished," said Williams, who will not seek re-election in November. "That would be awesome."

But that's getting way ahead of ourselves. Way, way ahead of ourselves. For now, there is only hope of an 11th Street underpass coming to fruition. And you know the old saying about hope.