Cedar Rapids’ $10M project will improve streets near Wright Brothers Boulevard/I-380

CEDAR RAPIDS — The city of Cedar Rapids is planning to make $10 million in improvements to streets connecting to where the Iowa Department of Transportation in the coming years will reconstruct the Wright Brothers Boulevard and Interstate 380 interchange.

Plans for work on Wright Brothers Boulevard SW around Sixth Street SW and around Earhart Lane SW will improve the roads leading to both sides of the I-380 interchange. The boulevard serves as the main road to The Eastern Iowa Airport, and the area is quickly growing from a boom in manufacturing, warehouse and new home construction.

The project — a joint effort of the city and Iowa DOT — is intended to improve the capacity of roadways adjacent to where the state is reconfiguring the interchange to a diverging diamond and widening I-380 to three lanes in each direction.

The overall estimated $112 million project calls for widening the interstate to six lanes from the north ramps of the Swisher interchange to just south of U.S. Highway 30.

The reconstructed Wright Brothers Boulevard interchange will be similar to but wider than the new one at Tower Terrace Road and I-380. It is designed to increase efficiency as left-turning traffic would no longer cross opposing traffic lanes.

The Federal Highway Administration awarded city and state improvements a $57.3 million RURAL Grant — funding made available through a federal infrastructure package. As part of that, $7.3 million was allocated to the city improvements that the Cedar Rapids City Council approved Tuesday.

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The state Transportation Commission approved the I-380 project as part of its five-year program in June 2022, and the Iowa DOT held public hearings on the project in winter 2022. It is fully funded with local, state and federal contributions.

“This collaboration of federal and state government, with the city’s support, to accelerate work on the interchange will help resolve logjams there in an area seeing major growth,” Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz previously said.

What are the city’s street improvements?

Wright Brothers will be widened where it intersects with Earhart Lane SW, accommodating turn lanes and a traffic signal.

West of I-380, Sixth Street SW will be widened. Turn lanes will be added and work will be done on medians going north on Sixth Street.

Cedar Rapids’ improvements will be bid with the Iowa DOT project on July 30 and subsequently constructed with the larger project.

City Engineer Ken DeKeyser said the improvements have been a “long time coming.” The additional lanes will handle increased traffic as new development has come online, he said.

How long will construction last?

Construction will take place from 2024-2027, being done in conjunction with the state’s I-380 reconstruction.

Access to the existing on- and off-ramps from I-380 to Wright Brothers Boulevard SW largely will remain during construction, DeKeyser said. There will be some overnight work with rebuilding overpasses over the interstate.

“This was a big deal for us and the airport to not have a bunch of closures,” DeKeyser said.

The southbound on-ramp to I-380 will be closed while a new on-ramp is constructed, he said. That traffic will be routed onto Sixth Street SW toward Shueyville/Swisher.

DeKeyser said crews recently completed a paved intersection south down Earhart Lane SW and are finishing paved reconstruction of Walford Road. This paved connection creates a concrete route for motorists to get around the interstate during construction.

Signage will be posted to point patrons to business entrances during construction.

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