Currently, the Iowa DOT is pouring tens of millions of dollars into upgrading urban interstate systems in Council Bluffs and Sioux City. I-80 in Iowa City has been upgraded to six lanes, and the complete rebuild of I-235 in Des Moines is a decade in the past now.<\/p>\n
But as this article in the Des Moines Register <\/em><\/a>points out, rural interstates are carrying enough traffic that they need to be six-laned, too.\u00a0(And that’s without mentioning, again, that four-laning US 20 still isn’t finished.)<\/p>\n The biggest choke points, in my personal experience, are I-380 between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City and I-35 between Ankeny and Ames. Those aren’t the only locations the state is looking at, though: The entire eastern half<\/em> of I-80 could be a candidate for six-laning in the future.<\/p>\n The closest comparative project would be I-80 in eastern Nebraska<\/a>, recently opened to six lanes from Omaha to Lincoln. Ohio finished six-laning I-71 from Columbus to Cleveland<\/a> just before this Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n The Iowa projects would be ambitious, and currently only done piecemeal, as with a proposed bridge replacement on I-35 south of Ames<\/a>. The long-range plan, such as it is, will likely be a factor in the gas tax debate next legislative session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Currently, the Iowa DOT is pouring tens of millions of dollars into upgrading urban interstate systems in Council Bluffs and Sioux City. I-80 in Iowa City has been upgraded to six lanes, and the complete rebuild of I-235 in Des … Continue reading