Davenport wants new 53rd, I-74 interchanges

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By Tom Saul / QUAD-CITY TIMES | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 |

Area officials will lobby for transportation improvements, including two rebuilt freeway interchanges in Davenport and turning U.S. 30 into a four-lane through Clinton, as the Iowa Transportation Commission meets in Bettendorf today.

Four times a year, the seven-member commission hits the road to examine the condition of Iowa's transportation infrastructure and meet with local officials, said Thom Hart, a member of the panel and the head of the Quad-City Development Group.

"For us, it's an education process," he said. "It is one thing to sit in Ames and look at things on charts and graphs and another to go into an area to see the infrastructure and meet with the people and see what the needs are."

Some officials plan to do heavy-duty educating. If they eventually are successful, it could produce millions of dollars in transportation improvements.

At the top of a list of priorities from Davenport city staff are reconstruction of interchanges at Interstate 74 and 53rd Street and at Interstate 80 and Northwest Boulevard.

Rebuilding the interchange at I-74 and 53rd is estimated to cost $25 million, said Dee Bruemmer, the city public works director. The idea is to relieve congestion by widening the bridges there and improving entrance and exit ramps so drivers do not have to cross lanes of traffic to get on or off.

"There is enough land there so it can be done within the existing right-of-way," she said.

Improvements at I-80 and Northwest also would relieve congestion and make the interchange more friendly to larger volumes of truck traffic. Opening a new facility for Quad-City Consolidation & Distribution in the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center by the end of the year is expected to add 200 trucks a day using the interchange.

"We are trying to get industrial development there, and we don't want to have road conditions throttle the effort," said Craig Malin, Davenport's city administrator. "The park is positioned for distribution. Once you have one distributor there, others are likely to follow."

Bettendorf officials are interested in improvements to I-74 from Moline to Davenport, but they will focus on four interchanges at State Street, Grant Street, Middle Road and Spruce Hills Drive, said Decker Ploehn, Bettendorf's city administrator.

Of particular interest is any work that will be needed on the interchanges at State and Grant streets to allow two-way traffic as Bettendorf continues planning for revitalization of its downtown business district, he said.

"Now, with the way things are set up, it's good for moving traffic but not the best for enhancing a business climate," he said. "At the State Street exit, several times a day, we actually push traffic back up onto the (I-74) bridge."

Chicago-based CH2Mhill, a consulting firm, is in the midst of a multi-year study of proposed improvements to the I-74 corridor from 23rd Avenue in Moline to 53rd in Davenport. Among the improvements are a new bridge across the river connecting Bettendorf and Moline.

Clinton officials are on today's agenda to give the panel an update on improvements at the Clinton Airport and to lobby for widening a section of U.S. 30 through the city as part of its Liberty Square/Camanche Avenue project.

The airport offers no commercial flights, but it serves as a vital transportation link for private corporate and business aircraft, said Randy Clegg of the city airport commission. A presentation will include an update on past improvements and a request for state and federal aid to continue.

Widening U.S. 30, which eventually would be four lanes through Clinton to Interstate 88 in Illinois, also will be discussed, said Dennis Lauver, the president of the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We want to convey a sense that there is continued strong support for this on both sides of the river in Iowa and Illinois," he said.

Clinton officials also will request aid for new transportation projects, Mayor LaMetta Wynn said. She declined to identify them, saying that they should be discussed with the commission first.

"We will see if they can help us with funding," she said. "Sometimes they can't. They have to deal with budget crunches, too. But we will let them know what we are up to and how they can help."

Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.