North Liberty preps for busy construction season

Crews are ready to begin work on a handful of projects around North Liberty, but planners are hopeful none of the work will substantially hinder traffic this summer.

The city hosted an open house on Thursday night. More than 75 area residents came to the event to voice concerns and learn specifics about the five projects.

Preliminary work has already begun on the Jones Boulevard reconstruction project between Penn Street and St. Andrews Drive. The plan calls for reconstructing the street, laying extra wide sidewalk on the east side of the road, installing a storm sewer collection system.

Parts of Jones Boulevard will be closed between this spring and next winter, but there are no plans to close the entire span at any one time.

“Like with any closure, it will be inconvenient for some,” City Engineer Kevin Trom said, adding that detour signs will be posted to alleviate traffic.

Trom said most residents he's talked to are excited about the project, but some still have concerns.

Zach and Jacki Knorr live on Jones Boulevard with their 3-year-old son Hunter. Despite a 25 miles per hour speed limit in their neighborhood, they said they regularly see drivers speed by at upwards of 50 miles per hour. Commuters use Jones Boulevard as a way to avoid traffic and stop lights on Highway 965, they said.

“I've talked at city council meetings about getting a stop sign and nobody seems to really care about that,” Zach said, adding that the speeders put his son's safety at risk.

The couple is disappointed there are not currently plans for more stop signs in their neighborhood, but landscaping plans could help.

“If it looks more like a neighborhood, that'll help. The plan right now will do that, I think,” he said.

Workers will also start shortly on Penn Street improvements. The project will add one street in each direction on Penn Street between Highway 965 and Jones Boulevard. No detours are expected for this project.

Other summer work in North Liberty includes extending Golfview Drive, laying a trail along Dubuque Street and through Penn Meadows Park, and building additional parking space and water runoff infrastructure at of Penn Meadows Park.

The total estimated cost for the five projects is about $6.7 million. Most of that will be covered by local tax dollars, but state grants and developer fees will cover some costs.