Rising costs could delay Fairfield road projects

FAIRFIELD — Rising construction costs could affect the timing of road repairs the Fairfield City Council has planned for next year.

Fairfield City Engineer Melanie Carlson said the city is planning a couple of major projects next year: reconstructing a portion of South Highway 1 and adding a roundabout at the intersection with Libertyville Road, and replacing the Crow Creek Bridge on East Burlington Avenue.

However, city officials recently met with representatives of the Iowa Department of Transportation and the architecture and engineering firm Shive-Hattery, who has designed the Highway 1 improvements. The DOT representatives suggested modifying the Highway 1 reconstruction so that it would be reduced from two lanes to one as a cost-saving measure. The previous plan was to maintain two lanes throughout construction.

Carlson said reducing the road from two lanes to one during construction would save a significant amount of money.

“Highway 1 will be lowered in elevation so we won’t have those ditches anymore,” she said. “Because it’s being lowered, contractors are working 1 foot above or below the traffic, so we need a lot of barricades and safety measures. They’re working in tight quarters.”

Carlson said closing one of the lanes would give the contractors more room and allow them to work faster. However, that would also be inconvenient for motorists who need to use Highway 1. That’s why Carlson said that, if one lane of Highway 1 is closed to speed up construction, the Crow Creek Bridge replacement also planned for 2023 would be delayed. That’s because motorists would need to use Crow Creek Bridge to access Highway 34 to the east of Fairfield.

Carlson said nearly every input is increasing in cost, from building materials to labor to fuel. City staff and Shive-Hattery are looking into additional funding sources including the recently announced federal road safety funding.

The city has completed purchasing land from property owners along Highway 1. The city needed to purchase 7 feet of right-of-way on each side of the road to accommodate the new sidewalk and trail that are planned. Alliant Energy has also begun design on relocating gas main and utility poles.

The letting date for the road is still scheduled for November, so street work could begin as early as the winter of 2022-2023.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com