State grant could help fund Burlington Street work in Iowa City

IOWA CITY – The city of Iowa City may go after a state grant to help fund a long-delayed project to add a median to a portion of Burlington Street.

The City Council is expected to vote Sept. 20 to have the city apply for a $750,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation Statewide Enhancement fund to put toward the $2 million project.

The plan is to install a median on Burlington Street between the Iowa River and Capitol Street near downtown and the University of Iowa campus.

City and UI officials had hoped to have the work done when the university's new wellness center opened last August to help keep pedestrians safe while crossing the busy intersection at Burlington and Madison streets.

The 2008 flood caused a delay, however.

The UI has pledged $750,000 toward the project, said Ron Knoche, city engineer. The city has budgeted $400,000 and hopes to get another $750,000 from the state.

Knoche expects to get word on the state grant by the end of the year, which is when the City Council starts work on the upcoming fiscal year's budget.

If all goes well, construction on the median likely would begin in 2013, Knoche said. The median would be at least 9 feet wide in spots and 21 feet at the widest, Knoche said. Burlington Street would need to be widened between Madison Street and the river, but there's room for that, he said.

It would be a planted median, with some trees, flowers and grass.

City staff would like to eventually extend the median east to Gilbert Street.