Traffic, flood control by raising Ellis Road

Traveling on the west side of Cedar Rapids is particularly slow and has few options. Also, growth can't proceed without flood control.

Has anyone thought the solution could be to raise Ellis Road? If Ellis was built up, say 10 to 12 feet starting near the Cedar Rapids school offices and south along the river, the reroute of the raised road could be closer to the river and across land that has been vacated. One could envision this new road forming the flood levee for much of the west side, and giving the public a faster, safer means of travel.

One also could consider continuing to raise the road all the way to Mount Trashmore, then continuing around to eventually meet up with Old River Road and a possible link with Highway 30.

Lee R. Overton

Hiawatha