Update: Work on 218 may continue for another month

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

In some quarters, summer is synonymous with road construction.

Such is the case recently on U.S. Highway 218 around Mt. Pleasant. Norrif Asphalt Paving Co. of Ottumwa, recently began shoulder work on approximately a four-mile stretch of the highway which passes around Mt. Pleasant.

?Norrif is applying some hot-asphalt mix to shoulders along 218 and also on the exit ramp shoulders,? said Jim Webb, an Iowa Department of Transportation district construction engineer based in Fairfield.

Webb said that the asphalt will extend four feet on the inside and outside shoulders of the road and the three exits along the route. ?We are trying to eliminate some of the rutting or rough conditions on the shoulders,? he said. ?It is basically a safety measure because the rutting conditions on shoulders could possibly lead to drivers losing control of their vehicles.?

The work begins at the 255th Street exit (just south of Mt. Pleasant Community High School) to a few feet north of the U.S. 218/34 interchange.

Webb said that during the construction work there will be some ramp closures, ?but they will only be closed a day or two.?

Prior to the asphalt application, crews did some patching on U.S. 218, Webb said, and the work also calls for some retrofitting on guardrails that have been damaged in collisions.

Webb said work will continue another three to four weeks on the project but quickly added that time span was greatly dependent on weather.