Commission votes to move forward with 330/65/117 interchange

DECORAH — The Iowa Transportation Commission voted down a motion Tuesday morning to cancel a planned $14.4 million diamond interchange at the intersection of U.S. Highway 330/65 and Iowa 117, which opponents say will oust a popular central Iowa organic farmer from his family’s land.

At a meeting in Decorah’s Hotel Winneshiek, the commission voted 4-3 against removing the project from the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 5-year Transportation Improvement plan moving the development process forward. Mingo produce farmer Larry Cleverly testified at Tuesday’s hearing, detailing the affect the loss of nearly 60 acres of his land — including all his certified organic farmland — would have on his business and argued it would be a detriment to the local economy.

“We would loose all of our certified land, our home and our outbuildings,” Cleverly said. “My family has been good stewards for this farm for 87 years — good citizens of Jasper County for 140 years. There are alternatives that preserve public safety and allow our farm to stay intact.”

The interchange design has been deemed the safest option by the IDOT to mitigate fatalities at the Highway 330 intersections with U.S. Highway 65/Iowa 117 and Jasper County Road F17. It will connect highways 117 and F17 with Highway 65 North using a bypass, allowing traffic to cross Highway 330 via an overpass.

The one-mile stretch of highway has been the site more than 121 crashes since 2003, resulting in 11 deaths. IDOT officials say these figures make the intersection one of the most deadly in Iowa. The most recent fatality occurred in March when a Des Moines man was killed in a two-vehicle crash.

IDOT staff at the hearing maintained the diamond interchange is still the safest alternative for the duel intersections, and claimed the “geometry and geography” of the area would not lend itself to a J-turn alternative — a fix which would take the least amount of land but was viewed by the IDOT and some citizens of the area as a temporary solution.

Staff discussed details of the latest high-speed crash at the intersection which occurred Saturday when a southbound bound vehicle t-boned another vehicle crossed the intersection from Highway 65 to Highway 117. Three individuals were transported to a Des Moines hospital but no fatalities were reported.

Baxter Community School Superintendent Todd Martin, Baxter School Board President Jon Northrup and Baxter City Council Member Bryan DeJong testified Tuesday in support of the intersection. Area school districts and the City of Baxter have been supportive of the diamond interchange throughout the processes.

Before the vote, commission chair and former U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell said that although have had “full respect” for the IDOT engineering processes, he was supportive of the motion to cancel the planned interchange and reexamine alternatives.

“I think in all due respect, which I’ve just said to our engineering department and even though the case has been made for this intersection, there are alternatives to safety on that intersection that have not been totally explored,” Boswell said.

During the final August public meeting in Baxter, IDOT staff said the landowner easement process could take up to one year. Bridge construction and grading is scheduled to begin in 2017, with additional grading and paving to be completed in 2018.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com