Continuing analysis of the 2024-28 five-year plan:
- Completion of the Council Bluffs Interstate System project is forecast to wrap up in 2024, with construction at both the I-29/I-480 interchange and the I-80 Madison Avenue exit.
- I-80 east of US 169 will be rebuilt (bridge for six, pave for four) in 2024, and through the US 169 exit in 2028. It will be six-laned in the far west West Des Moines/Waukee area in 2025-26.
- I-80 will be six-laned from the current end of the six-lane in Iowa City to West Branch in 2024-25.
- The WB Underwood rest area will be replaced in 2028.
- Interchanges:
- The IA 21 exit will be replaced in 2026-28. My guess is this will be like at IA 146, where the roadbed for I-80 will be designed for six lanes. For now, this just means a wider median.
- Ditto the IA 149 exit, in 2027-28.
- The same thing will happen at the Middle Road exit in Bettendorf in 2026, which has been the subject of planning dating back to at least mid-2014. In early 2022, the Quad-City Times reported that the exit will change from a folded diamond with ramps in the northeast and southwest corners to a “compressed diamond”. Middle Road is an underfunded project.
- The Mississippi River bridge will be replaced in 2028, 60 years after its completion in 1967. Recommendations at a meeting in October stick closely to the current alignment. The final report is due later this year. The current price tag is $50 million.