November 21, 2001: The soon-to-be-former west end of unsigned IA 934, University Avenue in Cedar Falls and Waterloo.
There are two big surprises in the DOT’s five-year plan, released Tuesday, and they both have to do with unloading urban arterial streets. First, out of Monday’s Cedar Falls City Council meeting:
Resolution approving and authorizing execution of an Agreement for Transfer of Public Road Jurisdiction with the Iowa Department of Transportation relative to the transfer of jurisdiction for University Avenue/Iowa 934.
Waterloo Courier article here. KWWL story here. A former city councilman says it was “sprung up on us,” which may be true for the actual action but not as to what the state has been trying to do almost since it reasserted control over University Avenue after a lapse in the 1990s. The state would love to drop $20 million on Cedar Falls’ doorstep and get out so fast there’d be skid marks.
Waterloo, however, is not involved in this, so come July 1 (?) there may be a new west end to IA 934 at the city limits. The Courier article notes at the end that the Transportation Commission must approved the deal, presumably when it approves the rest of the five-year plan.
The second surprise is also in eastern Iowa. I’ll have more on that later.