Half a dozen plans came out last year, but the DOT has decided its final strategy for four-laning US 30 in Benton County.<\/p>\n
KCRG reports that there will be a meeting in Blairstown Tuesday<\/a>, but the plans are already online.<\/p>\n Project statement (PDF)<\/a> \/ Environmental Assessment (PDF)<\/a> (maps are halfway down the file)<\/p>\n The existing lanes will become the westbound lanes, with a slight shift southward in places. This really means the existing lanes will be destroyed and a new roadbed built in place to handle 21st-century traffic. Many homes and farmsteads on the south side of the road will be removed.<\/p>\n The most notable change in the final plan, compared to last summer’s outlines, is keeping the US 218 intersection in place. The interchange ramps will be in the northwest and southeast corners, with a separate access road built to the north for Youngstown Station. Then, at the county line, IA 21 will have a bridge over 30 for a diamond interchange \u2014 but will be further evaluated for potential impact on the Belle Plaine airport(!).<\/p>\n The current five-year plan expects nothing to be done except right-of-way until 2016. Then the new lanes will be graded. Paving isn’t listed yet, but it would likely happen for the new lanes in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Half a dozen plans came out last year, but the DOT has decided its final strategy for four-laning US 30 in Benton County. KCRG reports that there will be a meeting in Blairstown Tuesday, but the plans are already online. … Continue reading