U.S. 63 Coalition meets at Oskaloosa’s Public Library

U.S. 63 Coalition meets at Oskaloosa’s Public Library November 29, 2010

Monday’s, November 29th, meeting of the U.S. 63 Coalition at Oskaloosa’s Public Library was to review a recently released near final draft of initial plans for U.S. 63 improvements, give input and to ask questions.

Beth Danowsky introduced the Snyder & Associates Engineers and Planners team that was on hand to showcase and discuss their findings.

There were representatives from many of the jurisdictions that have been involved in the process of bringing the needed upgrades to our area roadways.

Those in attendance were Mahaska County Supervisors, Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development Group, City of Oskaloosa, City of Ottumwa, City of Montezuma, Poweshiek County Supervisors, City of Malcom, Iowa DOT, large employers and concerned citizens.

The purpose of the Coalition is to bring forward ideas about transportation improvements that are needed in the area. Monday evenings meeting focus was to have an overview of the Highway 63 transportation study that has been worked on for the last year, and some final public input before the report is finalized.

Part of the push of the coalition is the have the DOT include the section of Highway 63 from Oskaloosa to Waterloo as a part of the Commercial Industrial Network.

Discussion of further steps to help in promoting, and then funding the study needed for future work on the Highway 63 area. There will be opportunities for that to happen after the beginning of the year.

Dale Harrington of Snyder and Associates then spoke providing insight as to the details of the upcoming NEPA study that cost $500,000.00 for it’s initial phase. This initial step in the plans, even though not final, is pretty well done. He explained the many experts involved in the study such as the environmental analysis to clear and design. Site location are among many of the areas involved in such a report.

Richard Voelker project manager for this project then took over the meeting. He talked and described the slides of the presentation (download it here) to those in attendance that evening.

They listed their recommendations that will be part of the final report.

*U.S. 63 corridor and other regional transportation projects were evaluated against the identified needs to determine recommended project(s) to carry forward.

*Recommended U.S. 63 corridor improvements for additional development and study.

*Report did not evaluate U.S. 63 corridor locations against each other. Further study is required to determine roadway location.

*U.S. 63 improvements should be coupled with a connector to Pella for maximum regional benefit.

*Projects that did not fully meet identified needs still have value to the region and may be developed locally.