Category Archives: Construction

Plans for four-laning US 63 south of Ottumwa had made it to the design stage, but construction or preparation for construction is not in the new five-year program. The Ottumwa-to-Kirksville segment will remain two lanes for the foreseeable future.

The Quad-City Times says Iowa and Illinois have ironed out their differences and that the Iowa DOT will prepare for putting money in a time frame just past the current five-year plan. Note that the headline reflects fiscal 2018, which … Continue reading →

The DOT last month unveiled a host of possibilities for upgrading and improving I-380 in the Cedar Rapids area. Here’s a summary of the design ideas for the interchanges. The most notable point is that all of the smaller interchanges … Continue reading →

“Unnecessary” “quotes” on IA 175 in Eldora, Memorial Day. The sign contractor, IPSI, made a construction-orange county road shield for the street detour around the courthouse area.

Because IA 86 north of IA 9 wasn’t state-maintained until 1980, it has a lot of characteristics of a county road, including a lack of shoulders. The road was taken by the state as its importance as a connector to … Continue reading →

Real, tangible evidence of progress (2011 USDA aerials via Iowa Ortho Server) Decades in the planning, it’s almost here — parts of it anyway. The final relocation of US 20 (but not the final four-lane paving) is on schedule. The … Continue reading →

As noted in the previous post, the Iowa DOT released its five-year draft May 8. The only items for the I-74 Mississippi River bridge area concerned right-of-way and some paving. There had been $63 million set aside for bridge construction, … Continue reading →

The Iowa DOT’s draft five-year plan released this month still puts the big money toward urban interstate projects, but it has a couple of surprises inside. One of the projects of note is IA 58 and Viking Road in Cedar Falls, … Continue reading →

Since the opening of the Ottumwa and Kirksville bypasses, Waterloo has had more stoplights on US 63 than the entire route from I-90 to US 50/54 in Jefferson City combined. It was the only highway in the Waterloo area that … Continue reading →

One of the new components in the DOT’s 2013-17 construction plan is the replacement of the US 52/IA 64 bridge at Iowa’s far eastern end in 2016. It would be the third major river bridge in Iowa to be replaced … Continue reading →