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After years of planning, design work and efforts to securing funding, construction of the north-south Council Bluffs beltway should begin in the near future, a local official said.

It's to be done in six segments with bids on the construction of the first two segments to be opened on Feb. 22, said John Rasmussen, Pottawattamie County engineer.

It will be a two-lane highway with room to expand to four lanes if needed in the future, Rasmussen said.

It's hoped that construction could start in April or May, said Supervisor Delbert King.

"It's going to be a tremendous project," he said. "A lot of dirt is to be moved, a tremendous amount."

The beltway will be a two-lane roadway but can be widened to four lanes when the need arises, officials have said.

It could take many years before it's totally completed, depending on how quickly money can arrive, they said.

It will be worth it in the long term, Board Chairman Loren Knauss said.

"The road is not just about an easier commute, but development of the area," he said. "We're justifying these funds for development. You have to spend money to make money."

The new road would spur new homes and commercial development in that area, he said.

Approximately $6 million was requested for the fourth segment of the East Beltway, extending that project from Stevens Road to State Orchard Road to Iowa Highway 92.

Eventually, the beltway will stretch all the way south to Interstate 29; but money for that portion of the project probably will not be allocated until the next major transportation bill comes out in a few years, said Bob Mundt, executive director of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce.

The group also sought federal funds for the widening of South 24th Street from four to five lanes between 23rd Avenue and Interstate 29/80, he said.

"South 24th Street doesn't have a center turn lane," Mundt said. "That's a fairly big project. We're hoping to get that done in the next couple of years."

The paperwork has been signed, and now construction can start on the long-awaited East Beltway that will provide a new north-south route east of Council Bluffs from U.S. Highway 6 eventually going all the way to Interstate 29.

The county's Board of Supervisors at its Wednesday meeting approved a contract with Charles Vrana & Son Construction Co. to begin the first two sections of the road that will stretch from Highway 6 south nearly to Cedar Lane. It's hoped that grading can start next month, with the road to have concrete poured and be drivable, weather permitting, by the end of the year, said County Engineer John Rasmussen.

These first two segments will hook with the third segment that's almost completed through the new Hills of Cedar Creek subdivision. The beltway will be a two-lane road with a turning lane at major intersection with room to expand to four lanes if needed

Work is moving along quite nicely on the new north-south beltway by the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport, according to Pottawattamie County Engineer John Rasmussen.

The first phase of the project, which is immediately west of the airport from U.S. Highway 6 to Cedar Lane, is more than halfway done, he said.

"Approximately 4,000 feet has already been paved," Rasmussen said. "It should be done this fall."

The Charles Vrana & Son Co. of Omaha is the contractor.

The price of growth could be high for some Bluffs residents.

Trees, homes and even a church could stand in the way of the next phase of Eastern Hills Drive, just east of Council Bluffs. . . .

The Council Bluffs Public Works Department has been accepting public comment on several proposed alternatives for the project, which as planned would call for Eastern Hills Drive to run from U.S. Highway 6 to State Highway 92. Plans call for eventually making it one continuous four-lane road.

The new road is designed to improve transportation around the city, particularly north-south traffic, to accommodate future traffic demands and to improve emergency access in the area. . . .

Because federal funding is involved — $14 million in appropriations have been set aside for the project — certain steps must be followed as the project proceeds.

The city and Pottawattamie County will recommend a route and pass along their recommendation to the Iowa Transportation Department before it goes to the Federal Highway Administration for approval.

Eventually, the city and county plan to have a beltway that would join U.S. 6 with Interstate 29.

Pottawattamie County Supervisors decided Wednesday not to suggest any changes to the proposed voluntary annexation of county property by the city of Council Bluffs

Council Bluffs has proposed annexing 1,075 acres of land near the Council Bluffs Airport and met with representatives of the county as well as Lewis and Garner townships Monday. . . .

The Council Bluffs Airport Authority, which requested annexation and extension of the city’s sanitary sewer system to serve the airport, owns more than half of the land – about 600 acres. . . .

Williams said he thought that a sewer line to the airport would stimulate economic development in and around the airport . . .

Malmquist said the next step in the annexation proposal would take place July 14 at the Planning Commission meeting. The City Council will hold a public hearing on the annexation application on Aug. 10.

icejammer wrote:The first phase was built two years ago, from Hwy 6 to the airport.  The next phase may start up next year, although that's a little shaky as they don't have the alignment secured yet.  It's not, however, a "freeway"-style beltway, although it may be widened in the future for more lanes.

. . . The Bluffs City Council Monday unanimously approved the annexation of 1,058 acres of land that would include the airport. . . .

. . . The project continues to move forward, but little has changed in recent years.

Public Works Director Greg Reeder said the latest information was sent out to update those people potentially affected by the project. . .

Eastern Hills Drive is being built in four segments between U.S. Highway 6 on the north to Iowa Highway 92 on the south.

Segments A and B were completed in 2006 between Highway 6 and Cedar Lane. Segment C, between Cedar Lane and State Orchard Road, is partially done, but the route is set.

It’s the route of Segment D, between State Orchard Road and Highway 92, which has to be determined; and the process will take time. . .

Even if a decision is made next year, Reeder guessed construction wouldn’t start on the northern part of the project, the connection of the first two segments of Eastern Hills and Eastern Hills Drive that runs through the Hills of Cedar Creek development, until 2014.

The southern portion of the project, which still has three possible alternatives would not likely start until 2015.

Two other projects in the area would likely follow. The first would be the extension of Greenview Road to Cottonwood Road, also known as L-34, and the extension of Steven Road to Eastern Hills Drive. There are still two possible alternatives for that extension as well. . . .

The continuation of a major north-south road in eastern Council Bluffs is likely to start in 2017, but a late 2016 date is not out of the question.

The fact that the project is gearing up again is itself news, according to Public Works Director Greg Reeder, considering the many quiet years after workers finished the first phase. The Environmental Impact Statement, he said, has taken city officials since 2008 to complete.

A public meeting on the findings of that statement and the preferred route for the road’s final stretch will be held Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Iowa School for the Deaf Lied Multipurpose Complex, 3501 Harry Langdon Blvd. . .

When completed, Eastern Hills Drive will connect U.S. Highway 6 from near Interstate 80 to Iowa Highway 92 with quick access to Interstate 29. It will be a two-lane road with left turn lanes at intersections, Reeder said. It can, however, be expanded to a five-lane road should traffic patterns call for it. . . .

Next Tuesday’s public meeting will announce the preferred southern route that was based in large part on it having the least impact on people and the environment compared to other proposed routes, Reeder said. . . .