Andy Davis

aldavis@press-citizen.com

Last week crews began removing trees along South Dubuque Street in preparation for the Gateway Project, a project with a nearly $60 million price tag and the largest flood recovery and mitigation effort Iowa City has undertaken.

Some 300 trees have been marked, and work on their removal or relocation is expected to be completed by April 15, setting the stage for two-and-a-half years of work. MidAmerican Energy also is beginning work on the project, preparing to move overhead power lines, underground cables and gas lines.

The Gateway Project, prompted by the record-setting 2008 flood, is made up of three once-separate projects that include raising North Dubuque Street 10 feet between Foster and Kimball roads — an elevation that sits 1 foot above the 100-year flood level — replacing the Park Road Bridge to 1 foot above the 200-year flood level, and installing a new sewer and stormwater drainage system underneath North Dubuque Street.

Public Works Director Ron Knoche said the project has been in the works since 2009 and is expected to be finished in August 2018. The original project timeline was delayed several years as a result of considerable public comments and a prolonged National Environmental Policy Act study. The study, aimed at assessing the environmental impacts of the project, was scheduled to be completed in 2011 but was not finished until 2013.

Those delays added to the cost of the project when further consultation and planning services were needed from Kansas City, Mo.-based HNTB Corp., Des Moines-based Stanley Consultants Inc. and city staff.

Included in the city's fiscal year 2017 five-year capital improvement plan, approved by the Iowa City Council on March 1, is a total project cost of $59,433,731, roughly $7 million more than the city's $52.1 million estimated construction cost.

"That additional $7 million includes the engineering — the design work done by HNTB — so that's their fee, plus city staff time and wages to oversee the project, all the property acquisition that's occurred on that corridor, the tree clearing and then the utility relocation is also included in that number," Knoche said.

The estimated $52.1 million construction cost constitutes actual work done on the roadways, Knoche said. The Gateway Project is expected to be open for bids through the Iowa Department of Transportation in April, and if that deadline is met, work is expected to begin on May 31.

Melissa Clow, the city's special project manager, said during construction the city will work to maintain one lane of traffic in each direction on North Dubuque Street, though there will need to be "critical closures" as needed.

"It's an Iowa DOT project, so we are designing it based on DOT specifications, but it will be a city-administered project. We'll be overseeing construction, but we will need to go through the formal DOT audit to make sure everything is done correctly and per specification," Clow said. "And once work is done, we have a full landscape plan that will replace shrubs, trees and native grasses along the street."

With the new Hancher Auditorium scheduled to be completed in June and open to the public in the fall, Knoche said the city hopes to have work on Park Road completed by September to minimize the overlap between the two projects.

"Our goal is to have Park Road pretty much reconstructed from the Lower City Park entrance up to Riverside Drive by September of this year so that when Hancher opens up ... we're not rebuilding the street in front of them," Knoche said. "They should have the street done in that first construction season."

The first phases of the project include the ongoing tree removal and utility relocation work, as well as work beginning on building the new Park Road bridge about 130 feet south of the existing structure. The bridge is expected to be completed at the end of 2017, Knoche said, with final connections made to Dubuque Street and near the City Park entrance in 2018.

The old bridge will be demolished once the new bridge is completed.

Clow said although it will take time to complete, the Gateway Project is much needed. About 25,000 vehicles travel along Dubuque Street every day, she said, all of which are diverted during serious flooding events.

Dubuque Street closed for 54 days during flooding in 1993, and during the historic 2008 flood, the road was closed for one month. Two more closures came during smaller flooding events in 2013 and 2014.

In terms of flooding this year, Knoche said the National Weather Service has reported to his office that there is no major risk for serious flooding this year, adding that he is "feeling pretty good about this construction season. It'll be a good year to be working along the river."

"This is a project that's been on our radar for the last eight years. Since the 2008 flood, this is really the last major flood recovery project the city has left to do. And it's a big one," Knoche said. "With this project's overall total budget, this is the largest capital project the city has undertaken, and it has a lot going on."

Reach Andy Davis at 319-887-5404 or at aldavis@press-citizen.com, and follow him on Twitter as @BylineAndyDavis.

Funding sources for the Gateway Project