Iowa gas tax money: Where should it be spent?

With an extra $900 million for roads and bridges over the next decade from an extra gas tax approved this week, Iowa transportation leaders now face the question of what to do with it.

Do they address a backlog of repairs? Or think big and tackle projects with the potential to transform regions?

With an expectation of an extra $95 million annually, the answer likely will be some of both.

'As a commission member, I am pleased this gives us the ability to address unmet needs, like bridges and highways that need attention, but also long-term planning,” said Amy Reasner, a transportation commissioner from Cedar Rapids.

The timing of the tax hike is ideal for planners and decision-makers with the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Iowa Transportation Commission, which are early in developing the next five-year highway plan. For years, the backlog of critical needs has grown, with many long-range projects put on the back burner.

The DOT has a list of 'shovel ready” projects, such as widening Highway 30 in Tama and Benton County, widening Highway 20 in northwest Iowa, adding lanes and sidewalk trails to Collins Road in Cedar Rapids, and moving up the schedule for reconstructing the interchange at interstates 80 and 380.

Others, such as adding lanes to I-380, are on the needs list but are more of a concept than a plan.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett would like to see widening I-380 and Highway 30, and upgrades on Collins Road added to the five-year plan. He also plans to request the DOT assume responsibility for an interchange addition in the Highway 100 extension, which was removed but added back in after the city agreed to cover the $5.6 million cost.

Transportation Commission Chairman David Rose, of Clinton, said he's been flooded with calls and emails from people pushing for one project or another. The commission will be asked to approve the five-year plan, likely in June.

'It tells me we will still have more projects than money,” Rose said. 'We need to ask the question, what is a critical need? And, what is critical in Cedar Rapids compared to someone in Oskaloosa?”

Some commission members will be advocating for certain high dollar work.

John Putney, a commissioner and former state senator from Gladbrook, said widening Highway 30 to four lanes is an 'obvious one.” The Tama and Benton County portions, a roughly 30-mile stretch, clocks in at $176 million, according to DOT forecasts.

'There are a lot of needs out there, but no question in my mind the Highway 30 project is a high priority especially with the reopening of the Tama packing facility, Iowa Premium Beef,” he said.

Charese E. Yanney, a commission member from Sioux City, will push for completion of Highway 20 as a four-lane divided highway, a project her late father began lobbying for decades ago. That's estimated to cost $264 million.

'For me being in northwest Iowa and a Sioux City resident, I want to put 20 back on the five-year plan and finish that last 32 miles,” Yanney said.

'It's been twice since I joined the commission, we've pulled that last segment off. I also know I am working with six other people on the commission, but I will fight to have Highway 20 put back on.”

State Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, hopes the commission examines Highway 965 as a more legitimate alternate corridor to I-380 between Johnson and Linn counties. The highway was transferred from state to local control in 2005, but still eligible for DOT funding, he said.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said rather than new roads, he hopes the money will repair embargoed bridges and keep roads free of potholes.

Possible additions to the five-year plan will be discussed when the commission meets for a workshop and monthly meeting on March 9-10 in Ames. Uncertainty about federal funding, which accounts for about $300 million or nearly half of the highway program budget, will again cast a shadow over planning.

Federal funding for the Highway Trust Fund is slated to last through May, and the fund would run dry in August unless Congress appropriates more money.

Ready options to add to DOT highway plan:

- Intersection at Highway 1 and 22 in Kalona: $1.6 million, 2017

- Widen Highway 30 in Tama County: $81 million, 2017-21

- Widen Highway 30 in Benton County: $95 million, 2018-25

- Improvement of Highway 13 north of County Home Road to south of Central City (southbound): $11 million, 2018

- Add two lanes and sidewalk trail to Collins Road from Northland Avenue through Council Street: $65 million, 2017-20

Options to advance in highway plan:

- I-380/I-80 interchange reconstruction

Identified needs without DOT budgets or timelines:

- Replace I-80 interchange 242 in Coralville

- Widen I-380 from I-80 to US 30, in Johnson and Linn Counties

- Improve I-380 interchange at Boyson Road in Cedar Rapids

- Install I-380 interchange at Tower Terrace Road north of Hiawatha

Major projects elsewhere in Iowa:

- Widen Highway 20 in Ida and Sac Counties: $264 million, 2017-25

- Replace Mississippi River Bridge on Highway 20 in Dubuque, $153 million, 2021

- Widen Highway 61 in Des Moines and Louisa Counties: $222 million, 2017-23

- I-80 bridge over Mississippi River in Scott County, unbudgeted.