From left: U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, Waukee Mayor Bill Peard, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad hold shovels for the groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of Alice’s Road in Waukee on Friday.
The theme at Friday’s groundbreaking for the Alice’s Road extension in Waukee was persistence. Each member of Congress present — Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin, and Rep. Tom Latham — remarked about how city officials would consistently and persistently bother remind them about the need for financial support. The best exchange:
Grassley, in closing: Waukee Mayor Bill Peard said he’d be willing to rename the road for whichever senator got the money through. “I said I don’t want it to be named after me, because I want Alice to vote for me!”
Harkin, in opening: “Sen. Grassley wants Alice to vote for him? I didn’t know you were coming in from Chicago!”
Harkin also remarked that since Grassley is on the Finance Committee (which takes your money), and he’s on the Appropriations Committee (which spends your money), Iowans can be mad at both of them!
Harkin credited Latham for his role in shepherding the money through the House Appropriations Committee and then their work in conference committee.
Gov. Terry Branstad spoke first, talking about Waukee’s and Dallas County’s rapid growth and how this corridor would continue that.
All the speeches were given inside a tent on the south side of the intersection of Alice’s Road and University Avenue. All were relatively short, since the governor had a tight schedule. The groundbreaking followed, with a bunch of shovels on a pile of dirt placed for the occasion. After the main dignitaries, as shown in the top photo, Waukee and West Des Moines officials also got their turn with shovels.
The cornfield behind the groundbreaking area had already been harvested. From now on it will be a focus of suburban development. (I wrote about that 13 months ago.)
KCCI has a story, but the accompanying video is about Hickman Road, not Alice’s Road.