Iowa DOT Holds Public Comment Hearing For Northwest Bypass
John DeRooi (center) examines a map that outlines where a northwest bypass would go and how it may impact his ground.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – A proposed bypass for Highway 63 has been in discussion for many years, and in August of 2013, the Iowa Department of Transportation held its first public information meeting about the project.
In April of 2014, another informational meeting was held to discuss conceptual alternatives for the bypass, and its overall study area.
In October of 2017, it was announced that the project had cleared the environment study, which is approximately 1 to 1.5 miles wide. The bypass would connect U.S. 63 diagonally northeast to southwest with IA 163. The northern boundary of the study area is located about 1,300 feet north of 193rd Street & U.S 63 and is approximately 1,500 feet wide. The eastern boundary of the study area follows U.S. 63 from north of 193rd Street to 210th Street. Then the eastern boundary of the study area crosses farmland diagonally to 230th Street before heading south and ending about 1,500 feet south of Old Hwy 163. From this southern boundary, the study area crosses IA 163 where IA 163’s alignment becomes north-south. The southern boundary follows due west about 1.25 miles to the western edge. The western boundary, in general, crosses farmland diagonally from about 200th Street to 210th Street and then heads south to 228th Street where it generally ties into IA 163 approximately 2.5 miles west of the Oskaloosa corporate limits.
Jim Armstrong, District Engineer for the Iowa Department of Transportation, said that the purpose of the November 2nd public hearing was to gain public comment in an effort to gain a finding of no significant impact for the project.
If a finding of no significant impact is found, the study would then be closed. The project could then be sent for final design, and then it would be up to the commission to adopt the project as a part of the 5-year road plan.
US-63 approved Oskaloosa Northwest bypass. (click for larger image)
The bypass would connect to current U.S. 63 north of Oskaloosa just south of the water plant, and would travel just under 4 miles to connect with the current IA 163 bypass west of Oskaloosa.
Current county roads that will access the new bypass will also be redeveloped to provide a safer entrance onto the 2-lane road.
If the project were to be developed, the cost to complete it would be approximately 35 million dollars at today’s construction costs.
Armstrong said that the project is about the safety of motorists. The corridor in Oskaloosa around the Highway 92 and Highway 63 junction has up to 500 tractor-trailers a day making their way through town.
Armstrong said that the accident rate along that corridor is significantly higher than other places in the state of Iowa. “We believe from a safety standpoint and operations, this would make a significant improvement to that effort to address safety.”
If the bypass were to happen, and ultimately completed, those old portions of the highway would then be transferred to either the city or county respectively.
Armstrong said that the process for developing the project has gone along “very well.” “You have to start with different alternatives. Then you have to study them, and you drop them due to the process as you move along and find the one preferred alternative.”
The development process would be a total of four and a half years from that first meeting until a FONSI (finding of no significant impact) would be delivered.
At best, it would be another four years past that before any construction would begin.
Some rural Mahaska County residents expressed their concerns about the project, and how it would impact their land, and access to their homes and fields.
John DeRooi of rural Mahaska County could be losing ground from two area projects, the regional airport and the northwest bypass. “I’m very unhappy. I really get hit here,” said DeRooi, who says he could lose approximately 75 acres of “Grade A” land for the bypass project.
Another landowner said that the bypass should go east of Oskaloosa and that the proposed bypass won’t help solve the truck problem in Oskaloosa. “Trucks turning left in the middle of town is the biggest problem.”
Tom Rielly is a commissioner for the Iowa Department of Transportation, and a former Mayor of Oskaloosa and Iowa State Senator.
Rielly said he was at the meeting to listen to the conversation about the proposed bypass.
“We have an issue with trucks congesting the downtown of Oskaloosa,” said Rielly from his personal experience from living in Oskaloosa.
Besides getting the tractor-trailers off the downtown streets, Reilly said it’s also essential to help get area manufacturers products the best access to transportation routes.
“We think this is a viable way to do this,” said Reilly of the northwest bypass. “I think what is being presented is a good option, but it’s going to affect property owners. We need to listen to what those property owners have to say.”
Oskaloosa will be competing with many projects from around the State of Iowa for the dollars to make the project possible. “There’s only a finite amount of money,” said Reilly. “It’s hearings like this that help us get information.”
Last May, Mahaska County residents got a look at another potential bypass around Oskaloosa.
The southeast bypass is to improve the safety and operations of Highway 92 that cuts east and west through Oskaloosa. “The proposed improvements may also provide the benefit of a more direct and safe access to both U.S. 63 and IA 92 for local business and industrial areas along IA 23. Additionally, the proposed improvements are anticipated to reduce truck and passenger vehicle traffic through town,” says the handout by the Iowa DOT.
Highway 92 though Oskaloosa can see a peak of 12,700 vehicles per day, according to the Iowa DOT.
