Area officials and residents gather in Oskaloosa to talk about U.S. 63.

Is U.S. 63 moving? Not sure yet 
June 24, 2010

OSKALOOSA - U.S. Highway 63 will remain an important part of Montezuma's future.

But questions about what form - four-lane or a super two-lane highway - U.S. 63 will one day take and whether it will continue to pass though the heart of town - haven't been answered and probably won't be in the near term. 

At least six Montezuma residents were among 29 people attending a meeting of the East Central Iowa Transportation Coalition on Wednesday afternoon in the Oskaloosa Public Library.

The group, which has been together for a while now, is considering regional transportation needs. Specifically, they are looking at how U.S. 63 can be improved between Oskaloosa and Waterloo.

That's a 97-mile stretch, and that part of U.S. 63 is not on the federal Commercial Industrial Network or the National Highway System. The group is asking the Iowa Dept. of Transportation to request inclusion of that stretch on both lists. That would facilitate additional sources of funding to improve the roadway.

Inclusion on the Commerical Industrial Network list also is needed in order to get on the Iowa Dept. of Transportation's five-year list of major road improvements.

Montezuma interests in the project grew after a rumor circulated that a bypass had already been planned for west of Lake Ponderosa.

It turns out that might have been an idea that got voiced during a brainstorming session, then passed along. But it became apparent during Wednesday's meeting that some U.S. 63 changes may be in the works.

According to the coalition, which used Iowa Dept. of Transportation figures, traffic volume along U.S. 63 from Oskaloosa to New Sharon warrants a four-lane roadway.

But when the highway reaches New Sharon, the traffic splits - almost in half. Interests going west use Iowa 146 from New Sharon to Grinnell. Interests going east access Interstate 80 by using U.S. 63 through Montezuma.

At present, those counts justify two-lane roadways.

The coalition is using the services of Snyder and Associates, an Ankeny consulting, planning and engineering firm. Dale Harrington of Snyder and Associates was one of the meeting facilitators, and he said, "we don't know the exact nature and location of improvements from New Sharon to Interstate 80. But it would not make sense for the last 15 miles up to Interstate 80 to a be a two-lane road."

Harrington said the nature and location of U.S. 63 between New Sharon and I-80 would be determined as part of a National Environmental Protection Act study, which the coalition is now seeking funding for.

The study would take two years. Members of the coalition traveled to Washington, D.C., in May to ask for $400,000 in federal funding for the study from the House Transportation Committee. Cong. Leonard Boswell has submitted the request, which also needs a $100,000 local match.

"People need to understand we're in a fact finding mode," said coalition chair Beth Danowsky of Oskaloosa-based Musco.

The entire 97-mile corridor of U.S. 63 that's not on the Commercial Industrial Network would need to be included before plans for major improvements can be put on the Iowa Dept. of Transportation's five-year plan.

Literature produced by the coalition said interests in Ottumwa, Oskaloosa and Pella have expressed interest in quicker access to the north and east, in particular. Also, traffic counts and projections show higher truck volume on U.S. 63 north from New Sharon to I-80 than on Iowa 146 from New Sharon to I-80, even though total vehicular traffic is about the same on both roadways. 

The coalition's overall aim is to serve the 100-mile stretch of Iowa between I-35 and the Avenue of the Saints with an improved arterial highway.

Much of the area has been seeing a population decrease, but there have been and are considerable investments by industries. One that was noted was $1.6 billion invested by Cargill at Eddyville.

"We don't like to admit we're declining economically," Danowsky said, "but we do have a story to tell. We need to develop talking points."

"With transportation improvements, you do see population increases," said Harrington. "Industrial growth flattens the slope of decreasing population growth. We're not waiting for transportation to come to us. We're doing something about it."

DID YOU KNOW? - 
   That U.S. 63 is 1,286 miles long;
   It passes through five states, from Rushton, La., to Benoit, Wis.;
   It crosses five interstate highways;
   About two-thirds of it is on the National Highway System.

This page brought to you by Keith and Linda Brake and the Clowns in Iowa Network! To learn more about being part of the Network, click HERE.