Construction starts on G36 next week

WASHINGTON — Contractors will begin a project on County Road G36 (also known as 220th Street) July 8, where they’ll install paved shoulders on the route connecting Washington and West Chester commuters to Highway 218, along with a considerable amount of ag equipment and truck traffic.

In a news release, county officials said the process would take about five weeks, and reduce traffic to one lane at a time for portions of the road, guided by pilot cars and flaggers.

The construction will span the roughly 8.5 mile stretch between Highway 1 and Highway 218, according to Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius. He said the enhancements would offer much-needed safety improvements compared to the current infrastructure, where drivers who veer over the right edge of their lane leave ruts in the gravel.

“With that edge rut that develops, people drop off, and then a lot of people tend to overcorrect when they come back on the road,” Thorius said. “(They) steer too far back on and then they can cross the centerline, or maybe go across the road, or worse. So what we’re doing is we’re paving four feet from the edge of the existing pavement.”

While the county road hasn’t seen a major accident due to the unpaved shoulders in recent memory, anecdotes about close calls on G36 are fairly common. Thorius said the safety improvement could offer peace of mind.

“Statistically, crashes should be occurring, and we’re fortunate that they’re not,” he said. “There’s been a lot of near-misses. I witness those myself just driving down the road.”

Thorius said crews would also install rumble strips on the newly paved shoulder to alert drivers when they start to drift out of their lane. Additionally, crews will put grooves on the pavement’s white edge line, which is expected to improve the longevity of the paint there.

The one-lane area will move each day as the project progresses, according to a county news release. Thorius said the area would be 2-3 miles at a time, starting at the Highway 1 intersection and working its way east toward 218.

With a price tag of over $2.22 million, Washington County has offset the project’s cost with two grants from the Iowa Department of Transportation; the first for $500,000, the other for $1.116 million, according to the county’s news release.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com