DOT seeks answers for obsolete I-380 interchanges

HIAWATHA - A feasibility study of Interstate 380 in the Cedar Rapids area will definitely look at obsolete interchanges, but the field of study will be much broader than that, transportation planners said at a project open house Thursday.

Iowa Department of Transportation engineers already know that traffic is backing up at busy interchanges such as Highway 30 and Boyson Road at peak hours, but maps displayed at the gathering show that I-380's general capacity will be strained in two major areas by 2040. Those are the stretch from Wright Brothers Boulevard to Highway 30 in Cedar Rapids, and the stretch from Blairs Ferry to Boyson roads in Hiawatha.

Truck traffic has really picked up along I-380 since the completion of the Avenue of the Saints from St. Paul, Minn., through Cedar Rapids to St. Louis, DOT District 6 Engineer Jim Schnoebelin said.

“The amount and size of trucks today is much greater than when it was built,” Schnoebelin said. “Most of the interchanges have obsolete designs.”

The DOT contracted with HNTB, a national transportation planning consultancy, to conduct the feasibility study. A handful of residents who turned out last night at Hiawatha City Hall to talk about the project were invited to present their concerns to be addressed in the study.

Varlyn Fink of Anamosa came to tell the planners that I-380 needs a new interchange at Tower Terrace Road.

“I've just seen the cars lined up trying to exit the interstate to get on County Home Road” to the north, Fink said. He said he's interested in the future of the area because his wife owns a farm off Loggerhead Road near Tower Terrace, an area that is already beginning to experience residential development.

HNTB Transportation Manager Mark Pohlmann said the company expects to provide the DOT with a list of feasible alternatives for improving I-380 in Cedar Rapids. A separate   interchange justification study on Tower Terrace Road being started by HNTB will produce a more specific recommendation to build or not build an interchange, Pohlmann said.

One of the reasons for the DOT's current interest in I-380's future is the flood recovery in downtown Cedar Rapids. Schnoebelin said the city's interest in reconfiguring some streets and intersections on the west side of the downtown area may offer opportunities to redo the First Avenue off-ramp.

A forthcoming project to clean up the site of the Sixth Street Generating Station and coal ponds after the flood-damaged plant is decommissioned by Alliant Energy also could lend opportunities for improving I-380, HNTB officials said after being informed of it.

Comments previously submitted by the DOT were posted on I-380 maps by HNTB. They included:

l Problems caused by icing, fog and steam near the Cedar River have led to accidents and need to be addressed.

l Southbound I-380 to eastbound Highway 30 is a tricky transition and very busy with traffic to YellowBook, AEGON USA and Kirkwood Community College.

l There is an increased amount of truck traffic on Wilson Avenue, which goes through residential areas, and residents are beginning to complain.

HNTB said it will begin to offer some general proposals for public comment in about six months.