April 24, 2024

IDOT training center project taking next steps

By Jamee A

The Iowa Department of Transportation is looking at a piece of land southeast of Newton adjacent to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa Speedway where the former county home was located for the potential site of a Traffic Management Training Center. The Jasper County Board of Supervisors gave approval for the IDOT to perform surveys on the land as a first step in seeing in the area will work for the center. (Jamee A)

The Iowa Department of Transportation was given the go-ahead by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors to take the next steps in determining if the former Jasper County Home property can be used for the IDOT Traffic Management Training Center.

The board approved a written agreement on Tuesday following a tour of the property and adjacent pasture last week.

“This needs to happen, as I understand it, before anything else can take place,” supervisor Joe Brock said. “If these things don’t pan out the property is not of interest to them.”

In the agreement, the IDOT will conduct topographical, geophysical or other land surveys along with environment review for wetland, woodland, cultural resources, threatened or endangered species or other environment resources. The surveys will be conducted primarily on foot or with the use of light duty vehicles with very minimal ground disturbance expected. If any land is disturbed it will be returned to pre-survey conditions.

IDOT staff will be conducting the surveys and expect to be on the land primarily during the summer. The board will be notified prior to work beginning on the property.

The IDOT is looking to use the property to construct a training facility that allows responders including law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency medical services, towing facilitators and any other entity that may be a part of a traffic incident to train in real life scenarios in a safe setting. The proposal was first brought before the board earlier this year by Dave Lorenzen from the IDOT.

“It is a concept that allows all of the different disciplines that may be on some type of scene or an incident, a crash, hazardous materials spill, a road closure, any type of incident that effects the highway system in Iowa, this would be a training area that would allow them to practice all of those things in a real life scenario but not doing it on the side of the road which is going to be better for everyone,” Lorenzen said.

In other business:

• The board approved a road vacation at West 70th Street South. The Level C roadway will be returned to farmland use.

• Herberger Construction was approved with the low bid at $386,645 for the replacement of a bridge on Indigo Avenue over Cook Creek.

• Manatt’s, Inc. was awarded the contract for an overlay project with the low bid of $2.862 million. The project is for county road F36 from S52 east approximately 5.5 miles to the bridge over Cherry Creek. Work is expected to begin in late June or early July.

• Thomas Hooper was approved for hire as a skilled laborer in the secondary roads department. His starting pay is $21.81 with an effective date of May 24.

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