Bids being accepted on project extending Sycamore Street to new Iowa City elementary school

IOWA CITY - Work is slated to begin this spring on road improvements to get Sycamore Street ready for the city's newest school, which is scheduled to open this fall.

Dave Panos, senior civil engineer with the Iowa City Public Works Department, said bidding on the $3.2 million streets project will open later this month and the hope is all work from just south of Sycamore Street's intersection with Langenberg Avenue to where the road meets Lehman Avenue - including a roundabout intersection at Lehman Avenue and Sycamore Street - will be completed by late October/early November.

The Iowa City Community School District is covering about $250,000 of the project cost for the school's site plan.

'Essentially we want to get access to the school, that's the priority for this fall,” Panos said. 'I think everybody is excited about the project and the school coming in.”

When finished, the new Sycamore Street will be 34 feet wide, with an eight foot wide sidewalk to the west and a five foot wide sidewalk to the east and have an updated storm sewer system.

However, classes at the new Archibald Alexander Elementary start August and the final phase of the project - the roundabout intersection - will still be underway at that point so traffic will have to be routed along Sycamore Street from Sand Road for a few months.

Duane Van Hemert, physical plant director for the school district, said he is pleased with the proposed timeline for the project and said he's ready with two plans to access the building once classes start depending on the progress made. Vehicles will enter from the north if Sycamore Street is open and from a temporary road from the south if work hasn't been finished, he said.

'I think we have our bases covered, the school can open whether that street is done or not,” he said.

To ensure the impact is minimal, Panos said the project's contract will include penalties for work unfinished after the completion date, which is common with most contracts.

Panos also noted that residents should be aware that Sycamore Street will likely be closed to through traffic for most of the project.

As Sycamore Street falls on county land, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors will be entering into a 28E agreement with the city to allow work to take place, with the city fronting the cost and handling maintenance on the sidewalks until they are later annexed with future residential development.

The city also will be responsible for maintenance and dust control on the portion of Sycamore Street between Sand Road and the new school until updates on that length of the street take place, possibly in a few years.

Supervisor Terrence Neuzil did express concern over that portion of Sycamore Street, which looks to remain a chip-seal roadway for at least the first few years of operations at Alexander Elementary.

'I think it's very concerning when you have an elementary school that's going to be half on a gravel road with a deep ditch,” he said.

As for the school, Van Hemert said the $14 million project is right on track for an Aug. 1 completion.

'It's progressing quite nicely,” he said.