Notes on 2022-26 five-year plan (1)


June 20, 2017: This intersection on the south side of Nevada will not be closed in 2023 in favor of an overpass between here and the S14 intersection in the deep background. UPDATE/CORRECTION 6/25/21: Current plans leave the intersection intact at the bridge’s completion.

Here is the first part of a list of major projects or interesting things I saw in the draft five-year construction plan, released after the Iowa Transportation Commission’s May meeting. The highway stuff begins about halfway through the PDF.

Not mentioned below are the continuation of the I-80/380 interchange replacement, I-29/480 interchange, or future redesign (again) of the northeast mixmaster in Des Moines.

  • The draft plan does not include mileage for any project.
  • The I-74 bridge is to be completed this calendar year with demolition of the old ones next year. The final piece of the arch of the Illinois-bound bridge was set May 5; here’s a video from the Quad-City Times.
  • US 30:
    • Four-lane in Tama County plus the IA 21 interchange in 2022, i.e. hopefully finished by midsummer next year.
    • Four-lane in Benton County in 2022-23.
    • New exit at R70, 2 miles east of I-35, in 2023-24, slightly extending the controlled-access portion. The Nevada Journal wrote about it last March. This and the next item have been discussed for nearly a decade; see these blog posts from 2015 and 2017.
    • A new bridge, but not a new exit, between S14 and 6th Street (former IA 133) in Nevada in 2023. This will close both intersections of those roads with 30. (UPDATE: 6th Street will stay open.)  The Nevada City Council endorsed last year (story: Ames Tribune) after un-endorsing it in 2015. It’s based on promise/hope of a future exit at Airport Road, which is not in the program yet.
    • Missouri Valley bypass programmed for bridge and grading later, with paving likely in 2027.
  • I-80:
    • Six-laning from Alice’s Road Grand Prairie Parkway to Jordan Creek Parkway, 2023-25
    • Six-laning from where it currently ends just west of Herbert Hoover Highway to West Branch, through 2025. The first part of that started this spring with closure of a ramp at the HHH exit.
    • Around the IA 38 exit, including redoing it with space for the ULTIMATE LANE, in 2023
    • New Raccoon River bridges near the De Soto exit in 2022/2024. The PDF shows “bridge for 6 pave for 4”.
    • Continued replacement of the North Skunk River bridges, which is also “bridge for 6 pave for 4”, in 2022.
    • The IA 146 exit, also a “bridge for 6 pave for 4”, in 2022; the original eastbound lanes are in the space for the new median
    • Paving, with bridge widening, between University and Douglas avenues in 2025-26. This is through the Living History Farms area. I figure this is to turn I-35/80 from three through lanes with a dedicated exit lane to four through lanes with a dedicated exit lane.
    • “Improvement”, which I suspect means replacement, of the westbound Underwood rest area in 2025
    • “Improvement” of the eastbound Iowa County rest area, which used to be a welcome center in the middle of the state, in 2024
    • Any chance future five-year plans could specify “6-lane” or “prepare/bridge for 6 pave for 4”? Just asking.
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