Work on Liberty High School, which forced path to close, is on schedule

NORTH LIBERTY - An official with the Iowa City school district said a popular bike trail that's been closed almost twice as long as planned as part of construction of a new high school should be reopened by Thanksgiving.

The good news is the under-construction Liberty High School is ahead of schedule and remains on track to be in service for fall 2017, said Duane Van Hemert, Iowa City schools physical plant director.

'The weather hasn't cooperated much,” Van Hemert said. 'And the city asked us to put in an (urban)-type curb configuration on the north side of Dubuque Street. As part of the redesign, we had to adjust the redesign of trail.”

The 4-year-old bike trail along Dubuque Street has become a popular commuting and recreation route. It was supposed to be closed from June 1 to the end of August to accommodate construction of the $44 million, 1,000-student high school, the third in the district.

The trail had run along a ditch, but as part of the project, the ditch was filled and the trail brought up to grade with the road.

'It is nearing completion, but they still need to put the section in where the driveways go,” Van Hemert said.

The delays and changes have not affected the cost of the project, he said.

A half-mile of paved trail is ripped out, forcing users onto a busy, fast-moving county road with no shoulders. Southbound trail users have to cross vehicle traffic twice to navigate the marked-off section. No injuries have been reported, officials said.

The trail still is blocked off, but most of the concrete has been poured, except the main school driveway and at the west end. Staff members still are working on the details at the west end where a roundabout is being installed at North Liberty Road, Van Hemert said.

Van Hemert said school construction is moving quickly with an average of 150 workers on site per day. Crews are setting 2,000, 8-by-16-inch concrete panels a day, out of about 300,000 panels total for the project, he said.

Crews are closing up the east part of the building - the academic wing - and plan to work there through the winter, he said.

'The school is ahead of schedule,” Van Hemert said. 'It's moving really well.”

The timetable has allowed the project to avoid manpower shortages due to conflicts with simultaneous major construction projects in the area, including the University of Iowa's Hancher Auditorium, School of Music and Children's Hospital.

The UI projects are using different types of skilled labor, mainly finishing work at this point, while masons are the major labor force needed at Liberty High School at this phase, he said.

'It was planned out so well with manpower,” Van Hemert said. 'Manpower hasn't been a problem so far ... The timing is working out.”

In conjunction with the school project, North Liberty is doing $5.2 million of utility work in the area, which will support the new school and future development.

Don Colony, North Liberty streets superintendent, said the city is extending sewer and water to the area. The sewer project is about 65 percent complete and will be finished next year, he said. The water main in front of the high school is in and tested, he said.

'We still need to get water in down Dubuque Street,” Colony said. 'That will happen this winter and next season.”