T-R FILE PHOTO
This file photo shows the Center Street viaduct when it was closed for temporary repairs last March. During Monday night’s meeting, the Marshalltown city council accepted up to $1.5 million in federal grant funding through the Iowa DOT for improvements to the structure, along with nearly $4 million in funding for resurfacing Highland Acres Road between West Main Street and Lincoln Way.
Although most of everyone’s attention was turned to the incoming snowstorm and attendance was lighter than usual, the Marshalltown city council received two pieces of positive news on a pair of major road improvement projects during Monday night’s regular meeting and accepted state and federal funding for both of them.
City Public Works Director Heather Thomas was happy to share that Marshalltown is eligible to receive up to $1.5 million in federal funding through the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) for Phase 1 of the Center Street Viaduct. The bridge was temporarily closed down in March of 2023 for what were then described as “temporary repairs” to the finger joints drivers often notice as they pass over the viaduct.
On Monday, Thomas commented that finger joint improvements would likely be the most noticeable aspect of the first phase along with understructure work, especially in the north vaulted abutment, and refurbishing, sandblasting and repainting the existing railings.
Between road use tax dollars, general obligation (GO) bonds and the new grant, the city now has about $4.07 million in funding secured for the project against a cost estimate of $4.181 million, meaning they will only need to make up a difference of about $110,000.
“We’re getting very, very close to having this funded,” Thomas said. “Options for funding that shortfall, which we don’t need to decide tonight unless you want to, are that we can look at taking some of the interest from our GO bond funding and allocating it towards this project. We could look at (the) street improvement program or plan funds. We have several GO bonds that we have money designated towards existing street infrastructure, and we could pull it out of that fund. Otherwise, cash on hand and the road use tax fund. So we do have some sources to fill that $110,000 gap if that does come to fruition.”
No one from the council or the public had any questions or comments for Thomas, and a motion to accept the funding carried by a unanimous 7-0 vote. Thomas then moved onto another long-discussed road improvement project on the western edge of town, the resurfacing of Highland Acres Road between Main Street and Lincoln Way.
She told the council the city is eligible for up to $3.9 million in Iowa DOT funding, or approximately 80 percent of the construction cost for the project estimated at $4.875 million. Thomas explained that the grant money will come from federal funds, but the DOT has swapped state and federal funds and the city will have to follow state guidelines, which she said would be beneficial.
The project must be obligated within three years, and the bid letting process will run through the Iowa DOT. It will also require a local match of 20 percent or anything above and beyond that’s required to fund it. Thomas suggested the street improvement program funds designated from GO bonding as a potential source, and she indicated that there have been discussions with Marshall County on cost share because a portion of the road abuts county property.
Councilor Jeff Schneider asked Thomas to elaborate further on the discussions with the county and what the cost split might look like, and she said 64 percent of the property is city-owned compared while the remaining 36 percent is the county’s. If the two entities followed the same agreement that they did for the portion of Highland Acres south of Lincoln Way, the cost would be divided according to the aforementioned percentages.
“We have talked to Region 6 (Resource Planners) that if we do come to an agreement and an arrangement with the county where they’re responsible for a cost share portion of this project, that that $3.9 (million) would come out of quote, the ‘county’s’ pocket and not the city’s allocation of these grant funds,” she said. “But discussions are just preliminary at this point. We’ve met with the county engineer’s office, and they seemed favorable to coming up with some type of agreement similar to the past project.”
During the public comment period, Jim Shaw said he felt the arrangement was “a great deal.”
“If you do like I’m doing now, you can take Summit Street out to that other street and then out Highland Acres Road, avoiding all the speed cameras,” Shaw said.
A motion to accept the funding passed by a unanimous vote.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the consent agenda as listed, with the appointment of Gary Thompson as an alternate to the solid waste commission pulled so that Thompson could abstain from voting.
• Approved the purchase of a 2023 Chevrolet 5500 Chassis for the Marshalltown Fire Department from McGrath Automotive Group at a cost of $66,561.64.
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Contact Robert Maharry
at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or
