Study begins on Tower Terrace Road interchange

Work will begin soon on a roughly one-year, $405,496 project to determine the justification for an Interstate 380 interchange at Tower Terrace Road in Hiawatha.

Contracts were signed last week for an interchange justification report required by the Federal Highway Administration. The project will be conducted by transportation planning consultant HNTB, the same company that is conducting a feasibility study for I-380 corridor improvements in the Cedar Rapids metro area.

Contracts were also signed for an environmental assessment required in connection with the interchange. The $405,000 cost of the studies will be split equally by the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Iowa Department of Transportation, according to Cathy Cutler, transportation planner for the DOT's District 6 office in Cedar Rapids.

An earlier interchange justification report completed in 2006 indicated the project did not meet all of the Federal Highway Administration's criteria for adding a interchange to the interstate highway system.

Cutler said the DOT agreed to support a second study because there has been more development in the area a interchange would serve, because Hiawatha has improved the local street system, and because the Corridor MPO has updated the model it uses to forecast future traffic demand.

The interchange has support from Hiawatha, Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Robins and Marion. It is a subject that could come up during a DOT public information meeting from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Hiawatha City Hall on the feasibility study of I-380 in Linn County. However, the purpose of the study is to identify potential alternatives for improvements in the I-380 Corridor only from the Johnson/Linn County line only the I-380 interchange at County Home Road, which is just south of the proposed Tower Terrace interchange.