March 29, 2024

City parking, intersections updated

To continue to improve safety on the roadways on Newton, several parking areas and intersections throughout the community are being addressed.

The addition of stop signs on West Fourth Street at South 20th Avenue West along with removal of parking on South Second Avenue and Lincoln Street were approved by city council on Monday.

“Citizens have expressed safety concerns at the intersection of West Fourth Street South and South 20th Avenue West, stating the speed of northbound traffic at this intersection sometimes exceeds the posted speed limit and that visibility for eastbound traffic looking south is slightly compromised due to topography,” former interim city administrator Jarrod Wellik said. “This creates a safety concern for stopped eastbound traffic turning north.”

The intersection is a “T” intersection where eastbound traffic currently stops. The Traffic Safety Committee analyzed the area and recommended two stop signs to be added for northbound and southbound traffic on West Fourth Street South. The addition of the traffic signs will make it an all-way stop intersection.

Council also approved to remove compact parking spaces on South Second Avenue between West Fourth Street South and East Fourth Street South. Currently there are four compact spaces but following the reconstruction of the roadway in 2016, the new layout allows for full parking spaces on each block.

The final area is Lincoln Street located near the Iowa Speedway. A no parking statute was implemented on both sides of Lincoln Street between Rusty Wallace Drive and Iowa Speedway Drive when the racetrack was constructed. At that time, the east half of Lincoln Street was in Jasper County and the west half was a part of the city.

Since then, the east half has been annexed into the city. City code needed to be updated to reflect the actual street parking conditions on the road. The Traffic Safety Committee recommended adding the existing no parking status on the east side of Lincoln Street into city code.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com