Articles Tagged: Iowa Department of Transportation

Two speed enforcement cameras in Cedar Rapids that were nixed last year — along with most traffic enforcement cameras around the state — by the Iowa Department of Transportation will soon start issuing citations again after an appeal to the DOT by the Cedar Rapids Police Department was approved more than a year after it was submitted.

Two weeks after the 94-year-old Black Hawk Bridge was closed permanently — and more than a year until the new bridge will open — a car ferry began service Monday, transporting motorists, pedestrians and others across the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa.

The Iowa State Patrol, National Weather Service and the Iowa Department of Transportation said in a webinar on Monday that Iowans should start preparing for winter weather and poor driving conditions even before snow hits the ground.

As the government shutdown nears the one-month mark, Iowa airports, particularly those in more rural areas, are paying close attention to what may happen with an essential source of federal funds set to lapse in the middle of next month.

The Black Hawk Bridge across the Mississippi River at Lansing in northeast Iowa will close for good Monday morning — more than a year before its replacement is scheduled to open.

The City of Hiawatha recently received nearly $800,000 in state funds to support the construction of a new trail connection at Interstate 380 and Emmons Street.

Iowa’s highways are built to withstand a wide variety of vehicles, from compact cars to eighteen-wheeler semis and large farm equipment. They do have their limits, though, and according to the Iowa State Patrol, that limit is about 80,000 pounds.

The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to reopen the Penn Street northbound I-380 ramp (Exit 4) in North Liberty on Friday. It has been closed since June.

As plans to replace the Burlington Street Bridge progress, the entities involved in the project are determining how to balance different community priorities for the main connection between the west side of Iowa City and downtown.

Iowa outpaces all other states with the highest number of bridges classified as being in poor condition, but the Iowa Department of Transportation’s work over the past 15 years to decrease the number of poor-rated bridges has led to big improvements for state-owned bridges.

Black Hawk Bridge, a historic structure that links Lansing, Iowa, and western Wisconsin over the Mississippi River, will be demolished later this year, more than a year before construction of a replacement bridge is scheduled to be completed.

A 1980s DOT and DNR partnership put nesting boxes on the backs of Iowa highway signs. Now, they are being taken down

Also in this week’s Government Notes, beginning Monday, the Boyson Road bridge over I-380 and all four ramps will close for 20 working days.

Over the past 200 years, Iowa last lost 99 percent of its prairie land, 75 percent of its woodlands and forests and about 260 plant species are considered endangered and threatened. A new report says implementation of “connectivity corridors” would help protect Iowa wildlife from extinction.

On July 1, Iowa will join 30 other states in outlawing any phone use while driving that isn’t hands-free. The law was passed earlier this year, and will replace Iowa’s current rules about phone usage while driving, which law enforcement officers say were difficult to enforce, since only texting was banned.