MASON CITY — Road projects continue to be for the most part on schedule around north-central Iowa despite the recent stretch of wet weather.
Pete Hjelmstad with the Iowa Department of Transportation says it really varies by project. “You know you can’t pave in the rain, so it’s delayed some of that a little bit, especially the projects, the I-35 southbound lanes that we are reconstructing down in the Thornton area. Pretty much all the concrete is torn up, so there’s nothing there but mud. That does slow it down a little bit, but the good news is, we’ve had good stretches of dry weather too, so we’re not really behind on anything.”
There were some road flooding issues around Mason City last week, with many people complaining on social media about the flooding at the overpass between South Monroe and MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center on State Highway 122, which is currently in a road reconstruction project. Hjelmstad says it wasn’t because of new poorly installed storm sewer lines, it’s because of the work continuing to be done on the storm sewer. “The storm sewer intakes are all covered up with steel plates right now so that vehicles can work and drive through back there. So the reason the water wasn’t draining wasn’t because the storm sewers aren’t working, it’s because the intakes or the drains were all covered up, except for about an inch. It will be better once it’s open. You don’t have to worry about a bad storm sewer system in the area.”
You can keep up to date with construction projects throughout the summer season by heading to the DOT’s 511ia.org website.
