Iowa City considering Highway 1 bypass

The city of Iowa City wants to explore the idea of re-designating Iowa Highway 1 so that it bypasses the metro area rather than goes through town.

Changing the route would stop the 85-year-old state highway from running through the heart of Iowa City. Those streets would remain open; they just wouldn't be part of Highway 1.

That could reduce through traffic in some of the city's older residential neighborhoods.

It also, however, may reduce the number of people driving past downtown businesses and the University of Iowa campus on Burlington Street, which is part of Highway 1.

“I want to emphasis we haven't come to any conclusions on whether this is worth doing,” said Bob Miklo, Iowa City's senior planner. “We want to just put this out there and look at both sides of the question.”

On Oct. 19, the Urbanized Area Policy Board of the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County will be asked to add the Highway 1 evaluation to its transportation planning work program. The board has representatives from local governments, the UI and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Highway 1 was designated in 1926, according to the Iowa Highways Page website, whose accuracy a DOT spokeswoman vouched for.

Highway 1 is 120 miles long, running from Keosauqua in southern Iowa to near Anamosa. Only 20 of those miles are within city limits, including several through Iowa City.

From the south, it enters Iowa City on the southwest side of town and cuts a route to the northeast that includes portions of Riverside Drive, Burlington Street, Governor Street and Dodge Street before crossing Interstate 80 and continuing to the north.

During the city's recent planning process for an area near downtown and to the east, some people said it would be better for the highway to go around town to reduce traffic, including trucks, going through residential neighborhoods, Miklo said.

A bypass around Iowa City also could be easier and faster for people traveling on Highway 1, he said.

Possible new alignments include going around the metro area on Highway 218 and I-80, through southern and eastern Iowa City on Highway 6 and Scott Boulevard, or using Mormon Trek Boulevard and Coralville's First Avenue between I-80 and Highway 218, Miklo said.

City officials said they will talk with downtown business owners and UI officials about how important the Highway 1 designation is to them.

Nick Arnold, executive director of the Downtown Association of Iowa City, said he had not heard of the possible Highway 1 changes and said it was not immediately clear how it could affect businesses.

UI spokesman Tom Moore said university officials are always willing to talk about subjects of mutual interest with city leaders and will reserve further comment until they've had those discussions.

The Iowa DOT also will be involved in the decision. Spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher said the department had not yet been approached by Iowa City but said re-designations can take a couple of forms.

One is the highway becomes a city street.

Another is classifying the highway portion through town as a business route, which promotes businesses but indicates to trucks and other through traffic there is a bypass, she said. In those situations, ownership can be transferred to the local jurisdiction or continue under the state, she said.

John Yapp, executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County, said a study would include a lot of data collection, including updated traffic counts and trying to gauge how many vehicles use Highway 1 to go all the way through town.

The latter item would involve setting up cameras on Highway 1 at each end of town to track vehicles. Yapp stressed they would not monitor license plates.

Currently, North Dodge Street (Highway 1) at I-80 sees 19,100 vehicles a day and Highway 1 just east of Mormon Trek Boulevard has 22,000 a day, Yapp said. Comparatively, the stretch of I-80 at the Iowa River gets 58,000 vehicles a day.

With Internet maps and in-vehicle global-positioning systems, Yapp doesn't believe many people follow state routes the way they used to, and he guessed few pass through Iowa City on Highway 1.

If true, that would raise the question of whether a re-designation would be worth the effort.

“Hopefully once we have all that data, the information speaks for itself,” Yapp said.

The city also will research how much it would cost to maintain the sections of Highway 1 in town, something the state pays for now because it's a state highway. That includes things like snow plowing.

Gray-Fisher said when highway ownership is transferred to a local jurisdiction, the state is required to bring it up to a “good state of repair,” which is something the two sides negotiate.

Iowa City also is asking the Metropolitan Planning Organization to evaluate converting the short one-way stretches of Dodge and Governor streets south of Burlington Street to two-way traffic. Those portions are not part of Highway 1.