Heads up: A campus road near you may close this summer
Author: Anne Krapfl
This is an archived story. The content, links and information may have changed since the publication date.
Author: Anne Krapfl
The summer months equal road construction season at Iowa State, and 2015 will present a few significant projects. Here's a quick overview of the key ones; updates will be provided in faculty/staff announcements this summer as details become firm.
The south end of Farm House Lane, removed in 2004, will be reconstructed and its juncture with Wallace Road reconfigured beginning days after spring commencement. Wallace Road and the adjacent sidewalks also will be elevated, as much as four feet in places. When it's completed, the south end of Farm House Lane will be gated to restrict vehicle traffic. This project will achieve several goals:
Phased road reconstruction projects underway by the city on Hayward Avenue (near the Intermodal Facility) and West and Woodland streets will close sections of those streets and impact access to campus through September.
The city also plans to replace the traffic signals at the 13th Street/ Stange Road and Lincoln Way/Union Drive intersections sometime between mid-May and early August. These projects will require temporary lane closings.
Landscape architect Angie Solberg said a top goal is to make the Farm House corridor safer for pedestrians -- particularly its middle section (between Troxel and Ross halls) -- where there is a large volume of east-west foot traffic. Solberg said a long-term plan, once the Bessey Hall addition is complete, is to create a pedestrian corridor through the middle section of Farm House Lane by restricting vehicle access.
Work on the south end of Farm House Lane will begin May 11 and last about two months. As part of this project, and dependent on weather for timing, Lot 49 (behind Curtiss Hall) will be out of service while crews replace the concrete top of a utility tunnel before reconstructing the road over it. Solberg anticipates the lot closing will last two to three weeks during June.
When Wallace Road reopens, a section of Union Drive in that vicinity will close for improvements to the bridge over College Creek. The bridge's existing west sidewalk and roadway will be removed and narrowed slightly so an east sidewalk can be added. A footbridge over College Creek just east of the Union Drive bridge will be removed. This work is scheduled to begin in early July and last about four weeks. The Knoll driveway will remain accessible via Lincoln Way.
As part of the multiyear project to bring three natural gas boilers online in the ISU power plant, a 250-foot stretch of Beach Road, between the power plant and Forker Building, will close on May 11. Crews will run a high-voltage electrical feeder line from the substation north of the plant to the new boilers at the southeast corner of the plant – and under Beach Road for a stretch. Assistant director of utility services Randy Larabee said the work will close Beach Road for six weeks, perhaps longer if wet weather or underground complications impede progress.
As part of the Davidson Hall demolition project, a utility tunnel running south of the former building will be removed, requiring a 50-foot length of Osborn Drive to close for about three weeks. That work begins on May 11 and should be completed by June 1.
CyRide bus routes impacted by the various road projects will be rerouted to nearby campus streets during the road closings. Details will be shared on the CyRide detours website and at the affected stops.
Full road closings: Central campus (with anticipated dates)
Full road closing: Iowa State Center
Full road closings: University/Schilletter Village (with anticipated dates)
Lane closings (road remains open)
Major sidewalk projects