Highway 22 shoulder work planned for summer start

The advent of spring means road construction projects are right around the corner.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is planning a major project in Washington County this summer while the Washington County Secondary Roads Department has some projects that will tie into the state work.

The DOT is planning to pave the shoulders along Highway 22 from Kalona to Riverside.

DOT District 6 Planner Hector Torres-Cacho said that the project will run from Ninth Street in Kalona to Boise Street in Riverside.

'From about Ninth Street in Kalona to about one mile east of Redwood Avenue, the shoulders would be 10 feet wide and take into consideration use by buggy,” Torres-Cacho said. 'The rest of the project length includes 4-foot-wide (hot mix asphalt) shoulders.”

He added that the project includes work on subdrains, centerline Portland cement concrete rumble strips, shoulder hot mix asphalt rumble strips and painted pavement.

'We are also removing the existing bridge on Iowa 22 over Bulgers Run and replacing it with a twin 12-foot-by-12-foot-by 114-foot precast reinforced concrete box culvert, and doing (Portland cement concrete) patching along the length of the project limits,” he said.

Work on the $3.04 million project is expected to start in late July or August.

'Construction for the entire project is anticipated to be completed mid-September, weather and other conditions permitting,” Torres-Cacho said. 'Through traffic will be maintained on the project at all times. The campground entrance near 12th Street is to remain open at all times.”

The Washington County Secondary Roads Department plans to add some work to the Highway 22 project.

'We're working with DOT on some intersections off Highway 22 as they do a resurfacing project,” County Engineer Jacob Thorius said. 'We are piggybacking on their project to pave about 50 feet of some gravel road intersections, particularly the Orange and Poplar (avenues) intersections.”

The county has other projects of its own on the 2021 schedule.

'We have some paving projects this year that we have already let - one on Premier Road and one on Riverside Road,” Thorius said.

The county also plans to do some stabilization and improvement on some gravel roads.

'One higher-use gravel road is a cut-through road on the south side of Brighton from Highway 78 over to Pleasant Plain Road,” Thorius said. 'Another one is G-20, where we have heavy truck traffic.

'We've got a variety of gravel roads we're working on around the county, either with ourselves, contracting it out or trying to partner with some locals to help cover those costs so the improvements can happen sooner than later.”

Thorius is hoping one project that has been on the county's radar for more than a decade could be funded this year.

'We've got a couple other bridges we're moving up on the list in anticipation of being awarded some grant money,” Thorius said. 'The main one is the bridge over the Skunk River on Dogwood Avenue by McKain's Landing river access. That has been a long-term goal of the county.”

Washington County partnered with seven other counties to apply for a federal grant for transportation projects in each county.

The bridge project is estimated at $6.5 million.

'That's really kind of two projects - one for the bridge to cross the Skunk River and get south up the hill to the pavement that's there and one from the bridge north across the railroad tracks to tie into the pavement on the north end,” Thorius said. 'We've got a $1.25 million estimate on the grading.”

'There's a lot going on, and we're trying to spread it all over the county,” he said. 'I realize every part of the county has issues, and when you only drive those roads, they're priority one for you. The biggest thing is trying to balance that for everybody.”