American Legion Road upgrade in Iowa City closes Scott Boulevard intersection until October

IOWA CITY — With Iowa City expanding to the east, city leaders started making plans in 2019 for a major overhaul of an east-west arterial road.

American Legion Road — which is what Muscatine Avenue becomes east of Scott Boulevard — was slated for a $9 million rehab to include a rebuilt road with dedicated bike lanes, a 10-foot sidewalk on the north side and an underpass for students to get to Hoover Elementary School.

What’s happened since

Construction started in April on the first phase of the project, which starts at Scott Boulevard and goes east about 1,800 feet to the start of Buckingham Lane, said Scott Sovers, senior civil engineer with the city.

The largest part of this phase is the installation of a roundabout at Scott and American Legion.

“Right now, we have pretty much the eastern half of the roundabout constructed,” Sovers said. “To get the west half of the roundabout constructed, we had to close all vehicular traffic.”

Until mid-October, when the roundabout is scheduled to be done, traffic on Scott Boulevard is being rerouted to First Avenue. Residents that usually use American Legion Road have been directed east to Taft Avenue, where they can go north and pick up Court Street to head west.

The second phase of the project, which will start next spring, will go from Buckingham Lane east to Taft Avenue. Fairway Lane, which now uses American Legion as its sole exit, will get a new temporary access to Buckingham on the north during the second phase.

The pedestrian tunnel under American Legion Road will be installed in the second phase near Barrington Road, an entrance to the Windsor Ridge neighborhood. That will be ready for Hoover students to use in August 2022, “weather permitting,” Sovers said.

“We plan to have the entire project substantially complete by November of next year,” Sovers said. “Everything will be open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic. There may be some final surface restoration, finish grading and seeding. The heavy construction will be done next fall.”

About $3.6 million of the $9 million price tag for the project will come from a state Surface Transportation Block Grant distributed by the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County. The remainder will come from general funds.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com