Interchange addresses traffic, future

Keep pushing for an Interstate 380 interchange at Tower Terrace Road, Hiawatha city leaders.

An additional interchange would help relieve increasing traffic congestion to the south, where the interstate meets Boyson Road, making travel safer, more convenient and more efficient.

The interchange also strikes us as the best way to plan for long-term growth and transportation needs in the growing northern metro area rather than only shoring up existing roadways, as some transportation officials have suggested.

Hiawatha city leaders have lobbied for the interchange and legislators have responded. This year Rep. Dave Loebsack, Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Tom Harkin requested funding for the project.

But those earmarks were struck from a federal transportation bill as it wound its way through Congress.

Federal transportation officials have said they think a number of improvements should be made to those local roads before anyone starts thinking about constructing a new I-380 interchange at Tower Terrace Road.

Some of those improvements could be helpful. But if they further delay the interchange project, that seems shortsighted.

As development continues, an additional interchange will be a critical element of a forward-looking transportation plan.

The current situation is frustrating and unsafe. That's especially true during heavy-volume hours when too many drivers must try to navigate existing ramps at the Boyson Road interchange.

The relatively short distance between the northbound I-380 off-ramp and turn at Center Point Road means traffic often backs up on the ramp during busy morning and evening hours, Hiawatha City Engineer Dick Ransom told a Gazette reporter last week.

And once Tower Terrace Road is extended east as some planners propose, an I-380 interchange would make the road a major route linking Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Robins and rural Linn County.

Plans are for the road to extend all the way to Highway 13, making it a valuable pipeline for traffic from growing residential areas of north Marion and northeast Cedar Rapids.

An additional I-380 interchange at Tower Terrace Road would do more than relieve current traffic snarls. It also would create new development opportunities and provide more direct access to I-380 from the east.

The interchange will become even more important as the booming area continues to grow. Of course, local government officials must also guard against poorly planned development.

Hiawatha leaders say they'll keep trying. We hope they are successful and that other metro communities' leaders lend their support.