Iowa City making plans for $32 million flood project on Dubuque Street, Park Road

Iowa City is still early in the planning stages for flood mitigation projects on the city's North side, but they're hopeful they'll be able to stick to the $32 million estimate they came up with two years ago.

City officials and project planners met with residents on Thursday night to discuss plans to raise Dubuque Street and the Park Road bridge. Even though construction isn't likely to begin until 2014, more than 200 people came to Parkview Church in Iowa City to hear about the plan and offer input.

Dubuque Street is a perennial victim of the Iowa River. Part of the roadway is frequently shut down when the river inches over its banks from heavy rain or melting snow. Those closures restrict travel between downtown Iowa City and Interstate 80, one of the state's busiest roadways. Most importantly, officials said, closures restrict emergency vehicles' access to Northside residents.

The Park Road bridge - which connects Dubuque Street to City Park and the University of Iowa's arts campus - proved to be perhaps an even bigger problem during 2008's historic flood.

“The bridge was basically a dam,” said Melissa Clow, a special projects administrator in Iowa City. She said the bridge and the debris pressed up against it slowed the water so much that it increased water levels 8 to 11 inches upstream.

In May 2009, Iowa City voters approved a sales tax increase of 1 percentage point. Officials estimate that tax will generate $36 million over four years, all of which has to be used for flood projects. Some of that revenue will go to the Dubuque Street and Park Road bridge project's $32 million price tag.

“As we move forward, that's the number we really want to stick by, so we'll be tightening our budget,” Clow said, adding the federal government has earmarked $1.5 million for the project.

Engineers are in the early stages of research to determine the potential environmental impact of the proposed infrastructure changes, a process they expect to take more than a year. Pending federal approval, planners will design a specific plan for raising Dubuque Street and rebuilding the Park Road bridge. After that, officials say workers could start on the project by spring 2014 and hope to be done the following year.

Once construction starts, planners don't expect to close down traffic for any extended period of time. They'll leave the existing Park Road bridge open while they build the new one and have at least one lane in each direction open on Dubuque Street at all times.

“It's going to be a phased construction project,” Director of Public Works Rick Fosse told SourceMedia Group News last week. “We are just going to have to work on half of it at a time.”

City officials stressed the importance of soliciting public comment. Plenty of local property owners are ready to share their opinions.

“I don't have specific concerns, I'm just checking on how it could effect the property,” said Mike Sobocinski, the president of an organization that owns the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house on Dubuque Street. “I'm just keeping tabs on it.”