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JohnCo hopes $350K tempts IDOT to rebuild local bridge
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 07, 2017
Johnson County in August offered to pay for $350,000 of the estimated $1.3 million cost of rebuilding Lower West Branch Road bridge over Interstate 80.
The Iowa Department of Transportation proposed closing the bridge unless local funding would help pay for its reconstruction. The IDOT plans to widen I-80 from four to six lanes, which would require tearing down the Lower West Branch Road bridge and either replacing it, which IDOT does not wish to do if it bears the entire cost, or leaving a gap in the road.
The IDOT is hosting an open-format information meeting 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at Helen Lemme Elementary School, 3100 E. Washington St., in Iowa City. The main purpose of the meeting is to come up with design alternatives for an interchange at Interstate 80 and Herbert Hoover Highway that would tie into the six-lane project.
At an Aug. 16 meeting of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, the board discussed how much it could offer to entice the IDOT to rebuild the Lower West Branch Road bridge. Secondary Roads Department Director and county engineer Greg Parker said he believes he could use $350,000 from federal bridge money toward that end, and possibly more since the county can borrow that federal funding up to three years in advance.
“It’s an excellent starting point,” Parker said.
Board member Lisa Green-Douglass noted that $350,000 makes up more than 26 percent of the $1.3 million estimate.
“It would be kind of stupid to reject that,” she said.
Chairperson Janelle Rettig directed Parker to “negotiate something” with the IDOT.
“If they reject that, then drag (the IDOT) liaisons in” for further negotiations with the board. “Investing $350,000 to keep a bridge open that we think should be open is an OK investment. … The problem is that if they reject that, then we don’t know our upper limit.”
As of Tuesday, Parker said he had not heard back from the IDOT regarding the offer.
Getting involved
The IDOT is hosting an open-format information meeting 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at Helen Lemme Elementary School, 3100 E. Washington St., in Iowa City. The main purpose of the meeting is to come up with design alternatives for an interchange at Interstate 80 and Herbert Hoover Highway that would tie into the I-80 six-lane project.
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