Council hires consultant for 1st Ave. overpass
Stephen Schmidt - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Metro
- Page 1 of 1
In a 6-0 vote during a Tuesday meeting, the Iowa City City Council approved paying NNW Inc. $297,800 to provide engineering consulting for a proposed overpass at the junction of First Avenue and the Iowa Interstate Railroad tracks.
"I think it's important that we proceed with the project," Councilor Regenia Bailey said.
The councilors are considering the overpass to solve the problems at the intersection. First Avenue is a major arterial road, serving around 13,000 vehicles a day, said Jeff Davidson, the city's assistant planning director. An overpass would effectively solve the problems, increasing emergency response times and decreasing traffic delays, he said.
Davidson said on Tuesday afternoon that the city has received some positive feedback from the Iowa congressional delegation about $5 million in federal grants that the city has requested for the project.
"They said to have our project ready to go in case we get the money," Davidson said.
Iowa senators and representatives designate federal funds to projects within the state from a pool allotted to them in the federal budget.
Mayor Ross Wilburn, Bailey, and other city officials traveled to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12 to lobby the aides of Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, for federal funds that would help with the overpass construction, as well as other public projects.
City Manager Steve Atkins said there have been concerns for several years about the congestion caused by the railroad, but the council has not had the money to pay for an overpass. The bridge is set to be built in 2010 in the Capital Improvements Program, verified by the council earlier this month.
"The bridge is going to be built eventually," Atkins said. "If federal funding is not acquired, it will just be a matter of the City Council sitting down and figuring out how they will fund it locally."
Councilors decided to pay the consultant to demonstrate to lawmakers that Iowa City is committed to building the overpass. Atkins said the amount has already been agreed upon with NNW, a company that has worked with Iowa City on several bridges in the past.
South East Junior High Principal Deb Wretman said an overpass would help the school, which is located near the intersection, in a number of different ways.
"What it would do for us is to increase safety for our students and decrease the school delays that are caused by the train," she said.
Because the railroad schedule is unpredictable, it causes school delays a couple times some weeks and other weeks none at all. When they happen, delays can last up to half an hour and disrupt the school's routine.
Heather Overfelt, a manager at Wendy's, 1480 S. First Ave., said the railroad causes major problems for the restaurant, such as halting drive-through traffic that can't make it back on to the crowded road.
"[An overpass] would be great for business," she said.
E-mail DI reporter Stephen Schmidt at:
stephen-schmidt@uiowa.edu
"I think it's important that we proceed with the project," Councilor Regenia Bailey said.
The councilors are considering the overpass to solve the problems at the intersection. First Avenue is a major arterial road, serving around 13,000 vehicles a day, said Jeff Davidson, the city's assistant planning director. An overpass would effectively solve the problems, increasing emergency response times and decreasing traffic delays, he said.
Davidson said on Tuesday afternoon that the city has received some positive feedback from the Iowa congressional delegation about $5 million in federal grants that the city has requested for the project.
"They said to have our project ready to go in case we get the money," Davidson said.
Iowa senators and representatives designate federal funds to projects within the state from a pool allotted to them in the federal budget.
Mayor Ross Wilburn, Bailey, and other city officials traveled to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12 to lobby the aides of Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, for federal funds that would help with the overpass construction, as well as other public projects.
City Manager Steve Atkins said there have been concerns for several years about the congestion caused by the railroad, but the council has not had the money to pay for an overpass. The bridge is set to be built in 2010 in the Capital Improvements Program, verified by the council earlier this month.
"The bridge is going to be built eventually," Atkins said. "If federal funding is not acquired, it will just be a matter of the City Council sitting down and figuring out how they will fund it locally."
Councilors decided to pay the consultant to demonstrate to lawmakers that Iowa City is committed to building the overpass. Atkins said the amount has already been agreed upon with NNW, a company that has worked with Iowa City on several bridges in the past.
South East Junior High Principal Deb Wretman said an overpass would help the school, which is located near the intersection, in a number of different ways.
"What it would do for us is to increase safety for our students and decrease the school delays that are caused by the train," she said.
Because the railroad schedule is unpredictable, it causes school delays a couple times some weeks and other weeks none at all. When they happen, delays can last up to half an hour and disrupt the school's routine.
Heather Overfelt, a manager at Wendy's, 1480 S. First Ave., said the railroad causes major problems for the restaurant, such as halting drive-through traffic that can't make it back on to the crowded road.
"[An overpass] would be great for business," she said.
E-mail DI reporter Stephen Schmidt at:
stephen-schmidt@uiowa.edu
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