Lowell, Oasis and 78 are now open

MT. PLEASANT — Henry County road crews wrapped up projects and began to focus on work further out from Mt. Pleasant as the Old Threshers Reunion attracts many to the area over the weekend.

“We try to avoid Mt. Pleasant during this week with all the traffic and try to go out and haul rock and just get away,” Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss said.

According Hotchkiss completed work this last week includes the Lowell Hill project which opened to traffic last Friday, though side and centerline rumble strips still need to be cut.

“They’d like to wait until the asphalt ages a little bit to get a little stiffer,” Hotchkiss explained.

Waiting for the asphalt to stiffen also attributed to the roads department’s decision to make large advertisements of the opening for the road immediately.

“A lot of that asphalt and stuff when it's new, it's a little more tender,” Hotchkiss said. “And if you drive the road, you'll see a few marks here and there before turning around. So that was one of the reasons we were trying to get it open once we got the paint on.”

This additional work will be completed with one lane closures as needed with flaggers and signs.

Even with a few finishing touches needing done on Lowell Hill, County Supervisor Chad White told Hotchkiss that he had heard positive comments about the project overall.

According to Hotchkiss, the portion of Highway Iowa 78 near Winfield that closed earlier in August also opened ahead of schedule this week.

Additionally, crews completed a three-mile section of base work on Oasis from 170th Street to 200th Street last week and they will resume ditching operations soon.

Last week drivers may have noticed work on bridges east of Mt. Pleasant on 220th Street, North on Iowa Avenue, and Franklin Avenue North of 235th as Uretek injected foam into the subgrades.

“They completed their work late on Friday and we provided them traffic control with traffic signals and also flaggers depending on how long they were at a spot,” Hotchkiss said.

According to Hotchkiss, that work went well despite the heat causing the work to run slower than anticipated.

“That north edge of the Iowa Avenue was a hard shock bump even on a motorcycle,” White said of the previous condition of the road, but also stated that Iowa Avenue now rides significantly better after this work.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com