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Washington Evening Journal
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Fairfield’s South Highway 1 to open Dec. 8
FAIRFIELD – Fairfield residents will be delighted to know that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” and that South Highway 1 is expected to open in exactly one month on Dec. 8.
Fairfield City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson said that South Highway 1, which has been under construction since May from Fillmore Avenue to Libertyville Drive, will removed closed to through traffic until then. She said that, even though the road appears to be paved, construction crews are still working and the area will remain accessible only to those who live and work there. The city is asking motorists to respect the barricades and not drive through there, and instead to take the detour from South Seventh Street onto Liberty Drive and then onto Key Boulevard.
“I know it’s tempting to drive around the barricades and just cut through, but we had some close calls between cars and construction equipment,” Carlson said. “If we can just hang in there a little longer, it will be for everyone’s safety.”
Carlson said that, if the weather gets bad in early December, the city will open the street on Dec. 8 and then finish what remains of the project in the spring, such as work on the storm sewer, water main and the striping to create the left-turn lane at the intersection with Fillmore Avenue. However, if the weather is good, the city may choose to do all that work in December so the construction crews do not have to return in the spring.
“I would rather have all of that work done this calendar year, rather than open the mess next spring,” Carlson said. “But if we can get the bulk of it done this year, that’s what we want to do. We’re keeping a close eye on the weather.”
The new roundabout on South Highway opened in late August, the first one in Fairfield’s history. Once the rest of South Highway 1 is open, motorists will notice that the road is much wider at 41 feet from curb to curb, and will include a new left-turning lane in the center. The two traveling lanes will be 13.5 feet wide, while the center turning lane will be 14 feet wide. In that regard, it will be similar to Burlington Avenue, which also has a left-turning lane in the center. Carlson added that the lanes on South Highway 1 will be a little wider than those on Burlington, though South Highway 1 won’t have the wide shoulders for bicycles.
Instead of having to travel on the road, cyclists can take advantage of the new 10-foot-wide paved trail on the east side of the road. Carlson said that the city originally hoped to have a new 5-foot-wide sidewalk on the west side of the road, but that plan had to be axed because of rising construction costs.
The cost of this project is $6.82 million. Seventy-five percent of it will be covered by grants from the Iowa Department of Transportation. A further 15 percent is coming from the growth in tax revenues from the properties south of the roundabout, and the final 10 percent is coming from the city, such as from its Road Use Tax Funds and Capital Improvement Reserve Fund.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
