Interstate projects speed forward, stall in parts of eastern Iowa

Sharply higher construction costs over the past two years have contributed to slowing the exploration of widening Interstate 80 in Scott County, but they aren’t standing in the way of improvement plans for the Interstate 380 corridor. Inflation has hit the rest of the economy, so it’s no surprise that the highway construction industry has been affected, too. The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) annual highway construction price trend index showed a 23.4% increase in costs in 2022 – its highest jump since 2019. Even the additional money infused by the 2021 federal infrastructure law didn’t go as far as initially hoped. The DOT said 40% of the additional funds were allocated to covering increased costs for existing projects. Inflation has cooled recently. The Federal Highway Administration’s June outlook said some input prices had actually declined, and that other indicators suggested better prices in the future. Meanwhile, the Iowa DOT’s 1st Quarter price index, while prone to more variability than the annual figure, went up only 1% from the same period the year before.

Still, the trend toward higher costs over the past two years took its toll on the DOT’s five-year plan, which the state transportation commission approved in June. “We had to delay 12 projects in that program and also identify some projects as not being fully funded just because of the significant increase across the board in all of our construction costs,” Stuart Anderson, the director of the DOT’s transportation development division, said. The $4.3 billion plan runs from 2024 to 2028. Mr. Anderson said it’s difficult to predict future cost changes in Iowa, but the agency is hopeful prices have stabilized and will remain that way. “If highway construction costs continue to remain stable, our (bid) lettings should continue to be close to our programmed cost estimates which will help as we begin working on the next five-year program,” he said.

Widening projects slow for Eastern Iowa, QC

Meanwhile, widening plans for Interstate 80 have gone into the slow lane. The DOT has long eyed lane expansion from Iowa City to the Mississippi River in Scott County. But rising costs have forced a change recently. “I think we’ve just had to reset some of our timing of how quickly we think we can get that done,” Mr. Anderson said. A study to look at widening I-80 to six lanes between Interstate 280 in Scott County to the Mississippi River has been put on the shelf – at least for now, DOT officials first told the QCBJ in early August. The DOT’s five-year plan still includes a couple of major I-80 projects in the Quad-Cities. They include the reconstruction of the I-80 interchange at Middle Road – a key priority for the City of Bettendorf because of the rapidly growing commercial development in that area. Officials say that intersection will be rebuilt to accommodate a six-lane I-80 in the event it happens in the future. In addition, the five-year plan includes $50 million for Iowa’s share of replacing the I-80 bridge over the Mississippi River between Rapids City, Illinois, and LeClaire, Iowa. The Illinois DOT is leading that project. It’s not clear when the DOT might restart planning for a wider I-80 in Scott County, but state officials say they still are interested in the project. Since it was a longer-term proposition, however, the planning study was put off. “You can do planning studies too early, because they do have a life cycle,” Mr. Anderson said. Denise Bulat, executive director of the Bi-State Regional Commission, the local planning organization for the Quad-Cities, said officials were informed by the Iowa DOT of its decision this spring. She said a contingent of city staff from some of the Quad-Cities’ area communities went to a recent transportation commission meeting to reiterate they would still like to see the state move forward with making I-80 six lanes here. That continues to be a priority, along with building improvements to interchanges along I-80. Ms. Bulat said local officials have been told in the past that widening the interstate would have to be done in sections – and that one of the first pieces would be improving interchanges. “So now, what we’re going to do is try to focus on those interchanges,” she said. With the Middle Road interchange already in the pipeline, the next priority is the interchange at I-80 and U.S. Highway 61, which has long been a safety concern, local officials say. However, Ms. Bulat added that additional economic development at the Interstate 74 and I-80 interchange in the future could push that interchange forward as a priority for both Davenport and Bettendorf. The Middle Road interchange also is listed in the DOT’s five-year plan as an underfunded project, but Mr. Anderson said the state will seek federal discretionary funds for that project, too. Even with the future prospects for a wider I-80 through Scott County unclear, what is clear is that traffic is expected to continue to grow in the area. The DOT predicts average daily vehicle traffic on I-80 west of U.S. 61 will double by 2045, while volumes on the interstate east of I-74 are expected to go up by 80% by 2045. Several of the secondary bridges that span I-80 in the county also have been deemed functionally obsolete. Elsewhere along I-80, the DOT is continuing to pursue expanding a stretch of the interstate to six lanes from U.S. Highway 1 in Iowa City to just east of West Branch. Construction on that section of road is expected to occur next year. The DOT had also been studying expanding I-80 between West Branch and Durant, but that was put off a few years ago, said Cathy Cutler, district transportation planner with the Iowa DOT. It’s not clear precisely when that might be restarted, either.

I-380 improvements moving forward through Corridor

Amid the rising cost challenges, work continues in preparation for the widening of I-380 in the Corridor, along with reconstruction of the interchange at Wright Brothers Boulevard in Cedar Rapids. The DOT plans to begin construction in 2025 to convert the interchange leading to the Eastern Iowa Airport into a “diverging diamond” next year, with the widening of I-380 to six lanes from north of the Swisher interchange to just south of U.S. Highway 30. The improvements are long overdue, said Ron Corbett, vice president for economic development for the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. Nonetheless, he said, it will certainly help an area targeted for future industrial growth. “This is great for the entire corridor, because transportation – moving products in and out of our community – is essential for continued economic growth,” Mr. Corbett told the QCBJ. Truck traffic has long been recognized as a significant part of the flow of traffic that travels up and down I-380 – not to mention along I-80, where the last directional ramp for the reconstructed I-80/380 interchange is scheduled to open soon. Beyond the freight industry, the area around Wright Brothers Boulevard has seen wider business growth, too, while the Eastern Iowa Airport has gotten busier. The airport reported more than 1.2 million passengers in 2022, its highest level since 2019. Mr. Corbett said “380 has certainly needed improvements for many years but the last three years, in particular, there’s been an extreme amount of pressure on Wright Brothers Boulevard.” The Wright Brothers interchange work is among the projects listed in the five-year DOT plan as under-funded. But Mr. Anderson said that the DOT applied in August for $57 million in federal discretionary funding to cover the DOT’s $50 million need for the project. The other $7 million would cover associated local street improvements. Further south in the Corridor, the DOT also is planning to widen I-380 to six lanes from just north of Forevergreen Road in North Liberty to just north of Swan Lake Road beginning in 2025. City officials in North Liberty say that will improve livability in the area. “It can get congested. At times, it can feel unsafe out there,” North Liberty Mayor Chris Hoffman said recently. “Our fire department responds to the calls on 380 … and sometimes what they have to deal with is, in no uncertain terms, pretty messy and difficult at times.” The Iowa DOT has said that average daily traffic on I-380 is expected to climb to 90,000 vehicles per day by 2040. “As we get to be more populated in this county, in this corridor, in this region, traffic flow through there should be made safer,” Mr. Hoffman added.