Traffic study suggests new lights, lanes once UI hospital opens in North Liberty

NORTH LIBERTY — Navigating North Liberty will get more cumbersome once the University of Iowa completes its half-billion-dollar hospital project, according to a traffic study UI commissioned to determine what measures it should take to help mitigate congestion in the booming district.

The study, which Shive-Hattery Architecture and Engineering produced in May, analyzed 20 intersections near Highway 965 and Forevergreen Road, where UI Health Care is building its $525.6 million campus.

The firm recommended the addition of either traffic signals, more lanes or new restrictive signage at eight intersections to keep driving from devolving into unacceptable delays.

“After the building was designed and placed on the site, we requested a traffic study be completed to understand the impacts of traffic,” UI Hospitals and Clinics Interim CEO Kim Hunter recently told the State Health Facilities Council as part of an inflation-related request to increase the project budget 33 percent.

The traffic study, along with recommended intersection additions, is among $8.2 million UIHC is spending on “land improvements” for the project.

“If you’ve driven out to the Forevergreen Road area, you know that North Liberty is growing, and the intersection in that area is quite busy — there’s a lot of growth in that area,” Hunter said. “And so as a result of the traffic study, we indicated that we needed to place a signal and traffic lane to be added for safety purposes.”

UIHC main entrance

The studied intersections stretch from Forevergreen Road and Front Street to the east; to Forevergreen Road and Interstate 380 to the west; to Highway 965 and Club House Road to the north; to Highway 965 and University Parkway to the south.

Among the eight intersections that Shive-Hattery recommended receive new signaling, additional lanes, or both are two access points into the UIHC campus — from the north off Forevergreen Road and south off Wheaton Road.

The analysis suggests dual turn lanes and a traffic signal off Forevergreen Road and a single turn lane off Wheaton Road — both of which UIHC would pay for.

“This is a new signalized intersection on Forevergreen Road at the main entrance to the new UIHC hospital complex (and associated dedicated turn lanes) and the stop sign (but no light) on Wheaton Road at the southern secondary entrance to the complex,” UIHC officials told The Gazette. “Those are the only two projects that will be funded and constructed by the UIHC project.”

The study rated intersections under different scenarios with traditional letter grades, from A to F. Without a traffic light, the Forevergreen Road main UIHC entrance would earn an F during morning and evening “peak” traffic hours — with “approach delays” of over a minute.

With the suggested traffic light and turn lanes, conditions improve to under one minute delays and “acceptable” levels of service, — warranting a D. With the signage on Wheaton Road, the south UIHC access earns an A.

Other affected intersections

Although not UIHC’s responsibility, the study highlighted other intersections in North Liberty that should be improved to manage traffic expectations once UIHC’s new campus opens in 2025.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com