Last month the Iowa DOT had a meeting in Ottumwa to talk about plans for US 34 through the city. Part of it is urban arterial, part of it is super-early freeway style. There are three suggested paths forward (PDFs):
- Status quo with more turn lanes, median crossovers blocked, and a SPUI at Vine Street. The SPUI may seem like overbuilding for an exit to a street that immediately dead-ends one way, but Vine is the closest connection to the John Deere Ottumwa Works.
- Remove the existing interchanges and convert the areas into at-grade intersections. This would move mainline 34 into the ramp areas at the Church/Jefferson combo exit, creating a large median and space for vehicles to stop in the middle of the intersection. No bridge maintenance, but 34 wouldn’t have a free flow anymore.
- INSTALL ALL THE ROUNDABOUTS, including a double at Church/Jefferson that gives me headaches just looking at it.
The composite report (PDF) lists the pros and cons (“roundabouts are evil” is omitted in the pros for the first two and cons for the third) and says the earliest this could start happening is the late 2020s.