Work on I-80/I-380 interchange enters fifth year ahead of schedule

IOWA CITY — The massive reconstruction of the Interstate 80/380 interchange is entering its fifth year ahead of schedule, with another milestone expected in the fall.

By Labor Day, all of the new ramps at the heavily traveled interchange should be open, according to Hugh Holak, resident construction engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation.

“We'll still be working on median barriers and things like that, but by Labor Day, we should have everything open to where traffic is going to be ultimately,” he said.

And most of the paving could be done by the Fourth of July, he added.

“How the spring cooperates with the weather is going to make a big difference,” Holak said.

The $387 million interchange project, one of Iowa DOT's top priorities, is at the junction of I-80, I-380 and Highway 218 in Johnson County.

The project, which began in 2018, will replace all four loops of the interchange with directional ramps. Additionally, parts of I-380 north of Interstate 80 and parts of Highway 218 south of I-80 will be widened, as will I-80 on both sides of the interchange.

Project is ‘several months’ ahead of schedule

Holak said the project overall is “several months” ahead of schedule, with some aspects more ahead than others.

For example, construction of the Park Road/Jasper Avenue bridge over I-80 was supposed to start in 2024. It likely will be finished this July, Holak said.

Holak said two dry summers in a row, and a dry fall in 2021, helped a “tremendous amount.”

Another factor that’s helped has been creative staging by the project’s contractor, which allowed crews to work in certain areas sooner than originally planned.

“One big one is that southbound to westbound ramp,” Holak said, noting the contractor figured out how to open the new ramp and close the old ramp about 10 months early.

Closing that old ramp early helped in two ways, he said. It allowed the old ramp to be removed and for crews to begin grading. The old ramp would not have done well over the winter and would have required “a tremendous amount of winter maintenance,” he said.

Financial incentives for finishing early

Almost $5.4 million in financial incentives is available if the project is finished early, with some $965,500 already paid out, Holak said.

“If they max out on all incentives that are available, they would get an additional $4,410,000,” Holak said.

The project’s prime contractors are Cramer & Associates in Grimes and United Contractors in Johnston, with grading and paving done by others.

2022 milestones

Project milestones achieved in 2022 included closing the last loop ramp and opening the second flyover ramp.

In August, drivers traveling south on I-380 saw a big change when the new flyover ramp opened that connects I-380 to eastbound Interstate 80.

A few months later, in November, a new exit opened on I-380 southbound, allowing drivers to exit and head either west or east on I-80, getting rid of the previous double exit.

November also marked the point where almost all traffic was traveling on new pavement.

Expect more traffic shifts this year

As has been the case since the project started, shifts in traffic patterns should be expected this year, probably beginning in June, Holak said.

“We have to do a couple of bridge decks and then we have to do some paving, but then we'll start switching traffic over to get out of crossovers and counterflow detours,” Holak said.

For now, crews are in “winter mode,” Holak said. Not much work is anticipated before April.

Other work in 2023 includes construction of new ramps and bridges, along with paving and median barrier construction.

Future of 380 Express bus service

Officials are exploring ways to keep the 380 Express bus service going after the I-80/380 interchange work is done.

The Cedar Rapids-Iowa City bus service was introduced in 2018 to help alleviate traffic during the interchange construction.

The 380 Express includes stops at Kirkwood Community College's main campus, Coralville's Iowa River Landing and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Funding for the bus service ends when the interchange work is done, but Brock Grenis, with the East Central Iowa Council of Governments which manages the service, said future funding streams are being explored.

“We've heard loud and clear that the service is very valuable and something that people really rely on,” Grenis said. “We're working really closely with the DOT on ways to help fund that long term.”

Grenis said bus ridership has rebounded “very well” from the pandemic. Ridership tends to be highest in the fall through the spring, Grenis added.

The 380 Express had 60,121 riders in 2019, its first full year of service. Ridership dropped to 45,754 in 2020 but increased to 55,219 in 2021. Ridership peaked at 70,091 in 2022.

“We've really seen that it's valuable not just to commuters but also students and the general public,” Grenis said.

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