Interstate 380 widening, new Highway 151 interchange included in Iowa DOT project draft

A draft of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s improvement program for fiscal years 2024 to 2028 includes two projects with significant Corridor implications – the proposed widening of Interstate 380 to six lanes in Johnson and Linn counties and a new Highway 151 interchange with county road X-20 at Springville. The draft, presented to the Iowa Transportation Commission May 9, would be funded with more than $4.3 billion of state and federal funding forecast to be available over the next five years. “Projects included in the program are consistent with the goals and objectives of the State Long-Range Transportation Plan and are determined by using safety, traffic, congestion, condition, and other data,” the IDOT said in a news release. The Interstate 380 project would widen the highway from four to six lanes from county road F-12 (the Swisher-Shueyville exit) northward to just south of the Highway 30 interchange. The project would also involve replacing the existing Wright Brothers Boulevard interchange with a diverging diamond, a grade-separated interchange design where the street traffic crosses to the other side of the roadway between freeway ramps, with a goal of improving safety and mobility. Traffic at the Wright Brothers interchange has increased dramatically in recent years, spurred by ongoing industrial and commercial development in the area. A public hearing was held on the project in November 2022. Estimates put the project’s cost at about $100 million. Since funding for the project isn’t yet finalized, specific time frames for construction aren’t yet available, but earlier estimates indicated the Wright Brothers Boulevard interchange project could begin in late summer 2024, with road widening beginning in 2025 and the entire project tentatively completed by 2027. The Highway 151 project at Springville Road (county road X-20) has been in consideration for several years, as the intersection has been described as a “high-crash” area. The Gazette reported in 2019 that the intersection had a crash rate of 91.3 per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled, as compared to a statewide average of 76 per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled. Several options have been considered to improve the intersection, including ways to reduce the number of left turns through designs such as a diamond interchange. Even if funding is approved, work on the project isn’t expected to begin for several years.