Coralville to begin work on efforts to protect from floods

CORALVILLE - Get ready for a wave of construction activity along one of Johnson County's busiest stretches of road.

The city of Coralville will soon start work on $36 million worth of flood-protection projects on First Avenue and the nearby Iowa River and Clear Creek.

The river and creek wreaked havoc in June 2008 when they jumped their banks, and the business-heavy First Avenue and Highway 6/Second Street area took a lot of damage.

The projects the city has planned to try to minimize future flooding include:

Replacing the First Avenue Bridge over Clear Creek with a slightly higher structure designed to allow more water to flow underneath it. There also will be a new trail under the bridge

Expanding First Avenue to five lanes from the bridge to Sixth Street, elevating it slightly and installing new storm sewers

A series of embankments, flood walls and storm water pump stations along Clear Creek and the Iowa River

Installing elevated walkways in the wetlands near the Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

Some aesthetic improvements like landscaping on First Avenue and pedestrian-friendly features like sidewalks and trails.

“It will be great,” said Jeff Teller, general manager of the Coralville Marriott. “When we had the flood in 2008, the water came within one foot of infiltrating the hotel, so putting any kind of barrier is going to be, obviously, a positive long-term solution.”

All the projects are scheduled to go out to bid the first few months of this year - including mid-February for the bridge - with the bulk of the work finishing up in the fall.

“There's going to be some very major changes,” Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said.

The highest-profile projects will be the bridge and First Avenue, which is a major thoroughfare between Interstate 80 and the University of Iowa campus. The First Avenue-Highway 6 intersection is the busiest in Johnson County, with an average of 50,000 vehicles a day.

There will always be at least two lanes open on First Avenue, but city officials acknowledge there will be some traffic headaches.

Mayor Jim Fausett said it will be a short-term inconvenience that will be good in the long run for commuters and businesses.

“They'll be visible,” he said of the projects, “but the main thing is they'll be able to protect the businesses along the Strip (Second Street) and First Avenue.”

Becky Love, co-owner of Advanced Billiards & Hot Tubs on First Avenue, said she isn't worried about losing business during the construction period and is glad to hear Clear Creek may be less of a threat to her store. Her building took on 8 inches of water in the flood, which was relatively lucky compared with some neighboring businesses.

During construction, the city will have weekly meetings with contractors and city staff at which the public can ask questions or express concerns, Hayworth said.

The $36 million price tag for the work will be covered by state and federal grants. That includes $27 million from the state's I-JOBS program, which is intended to help Iowa recover from the floods and tornadoes in 2008 and the economic recession.

Coralville received the largest I-JOBS grant out of $118.5 million dished out in August. Hayworth said the Coralville projects would protect a lot of private property while benefiting the public, and the city was able to get started on the work quickly, which would meet the economic stimulus goal of I-JOBS.