Questions about Highway 1

Gazette Editorial Board

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It's too soon to say how much a Highway 1 bypass would relieve traffic congestion through Iowa City, or if it would at all.

But any idea that might relieve the pressure on busy Burlington Street and Riverside Drive is worth a serious look.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County recently got the go-ahead to do just that. They'll begin collecting data and crunching numbers sometime this winter.

And if they find that bypassing the city will free up some room for local drivers without causing undue confusion, that's the road they ought to take.

Burlington Street and Riverside Drive are both running at capacity for their current designs, MPOJC Transportation Planner John Yapp told us this week.

Traffic flows just fine for the bulk of the day, but during peak commuter times things can become a little jammed.

Reducing those traffic counts could make things run more smoothly, but transportation planners don't yet know how many of the cars and trucks on those roadways - during rush hour or any other time of day - are simply passing through.

That's one of the first things they'll try to determine.

There are other factors to consider as well - like what, if any, effect the bypass would have on local business, or if a bypass would confuse drivers looking for downtown or the University of Iowa campus.

Even the increase in pedestrian traffic across Burlington, prompted by south-side developments like the University of Iowa rec center, will be considered as planners put together recommendations, Yapp told us.

Bypassing Iowa City wouldn't cost all that much. Nor would it involve any actual construction. It would just be a matter of changing roadway signs and maps to divert through traffic to another designated route.

There would likely be some increased cost to the City of Iowa City for road maintenance, even if the downtown route remained a highway business route.

Of course, none of that will much matter if researchers determine that most through traffic already bypasses downtown by using the much-faster Highway 218 to Interstate 80.

For 85 years, Highway 1 has run from Keosauqua to Jones County - right through the heart of downtown Iowa City. Yapp said he's just not sure, especially given the increasing popularity of computer-assisted navigation devices, how many drivers even navigate by the old highway system any more.

“Historically, there's always been a lot of benefit to that,” Yapp said. “But whether or not the casual traveler still follows those state highway routes - we don't know the answer to that.”

This is a good time to find that out.

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