Highway 100 extension funding approved in 5-year road plan

Funding for the Highway 100 extension from Edgewood Road to Highway 30 was included in the state's $2.6 billion five-year highway program approved Tuesday by the Iowa Transportation Commission.

The long-delayed, 7.5-mile roadway has an estimated total cost of $197,597,000. The commission included $18,588,000 for paving from Covington to Highway 30, fully funding the project over a period of years.

A lawsuit in federal court to stop the Highway 100 extension project was dismissed on Monday, three days after a lawsuit in state court to block the project was dismissed by the Iowa Supreme Court.

The Sierra Club's Iowa chapter and its attorney, Wally Taylor of Cedar Rapids, filed the lawsuits, arguing that 3.8 miles of the highway will harm the state-sanctioned Rock Island Botanical Preserve.

Preconstruction work has begun with bids scheduled to be opened in January and March for a new bridge over the Cedar River and for grading of the roadbed.

The state's five-year highway right of way and construction program also includes funding for the Lisbon-Mount Vernon Highway 30 bypass, Highway 30 from Iowa 21 to U.S. Route 218 in Benton County, the Highway 58 at Viking Road interchange in Cedar Falls, and the Highway 218 interchange at County Road C-57 in Black Hawk County.

The transportation commission also approved a $155,475 grant to help the city of Allison in Butler County construct a  720-foot extension of an existing street into an industrial park. The funding from the state's Revitalize Iowa's Sound Economy program will provide access to more than 10 acres for industrial purposes.

The commission also approved $4.2 million of funding for 12 projects from Iowa's Clean Air Attainment Program, including two in the Corridor.

Marion will receive $1 million for its Central Corridor project to complete streets and provide capacity improvements. Coralville was approved for $180,500 to help fund a traffic signal coordination project on U.S. Highway 6.