Have to say this is a long time coming, that exit can be nerve racking sometimes: http://www.kcci.com/news/changes-ahead-for-busy-i35-and-highway-30-interchange/37816252
Changes coming for I35/Hwy 30 exit
- Thread starter CYdTracked
- Start date
The video says the goal is to have it finished by end of 2018 so I assume work might get started on it this year even if that is the case
Isn't that what the flyover is for?
On a side note: is there a site that lists out all of these projects that are going on? Or business development projects (what's planning on going in where)?
No it showed it from 35 north to 30 west. This has been in the plans for a few years now...
Some things can often be found here, that is where news links usually go...upcoming meetings usually with some schematic drawings:
http://www.news.iowadot.gov/pim/
This 30/35: http://www.news.iowadot.gov/pim/2016/01/i-35us-30-in-story-county-feb-16-2016.html
(Older versions of the 35/30 options...If you go here and search "Story", you can see the other 30/35 alternatives considered http://www.iowadot.gov/pim/displayArchive.html This looks like Alt 6 Phase 1.)
Don't normally drive from Des Moines to Ames on game days, but one of the few times I did there was an accident on the exit and I couldn't slow down in time and was actually in the shoulder about a car and a half past where I was in the lane.
I believe this (a 6 lane I-35) is needed quite badly as well. The traffic is so heavy on this stretch and has been for the past decade. I remember as a kid going to Des Moines with my grandparents and you rarely saw more than a few vehicles from where you were to the horizon from just about any point between Ames and Ankeny. Then again, I-35 didn't actually GO anywhere much beyond central Iowa at that time. The diagonal portion north of Hwy 20 to south of Clear Lake didn't exist and the road was still under construction south of Osceola. Anyway, I would think the amount of traffic these days would certainly justify adding an extra lane at least to Hwy 30, if not 13th Street.
Little known fact of transportation engineering - increasing lanes does little, if nothing, to alleviate traffic concerns.
There are more cost effective ways to reduce congestion and it starts with better urban planning.
This.
Though a 3rd lane would be nice just for when a truck passes another truck, we all don't have to wait going 63 mph