Second portion of
Le Mars Bypass opens

U.S. Highway 75 traffic will no longer be trucking through Le Mars, unless by choice. The second portion of the Le Mars Bypass is scheduled to open today according to the Iowa Department of Transportation -- taking traffic off the temporary re-route into town on Highway 3 and sending them completely around Le Mars.

The finished portion of the $16.3 million project starts south of town at County Road C-38 and runs to the junction with Iowa Highway 60 to the north.

Two interchanges on the Le Mars Bypass -- west of town at Highway 3 and north on Highway 60 -- will be open to traffic. Cedar Valley Construction of Waterloo is the contractor for the project.

Dwight Jenkins of the Iowa DOT said this opening will be just in time for Thanksgiving traffic as they'd hoped.

"I think it's going to help Highway 3 with the congestion there," he said. "That will give people the option if they want to just go past."

But Highway 3 will still pose somewhat of a congestion problem, Jenkins noted.

"There's still a fair amount of extra traffic on it for people in Le Mars who want to go south on Highway 75," he said.

Drivers, Jenkins suggested, can take the old Highway 75 north out of town and get on the bypass at the Highway 60 interchange to help reduce traffic on Highway 3.

The DOT is planning to open several more portions of the Le Mars Bypass before the end of the year: the 200th Street interchange, the entire northbound lanes of the bypass north of C-38 and the entire southbound lanes, as weather allows.

"Our next major goal is a stretch of north-bound lanes from just south of the NIPCO corner, C-38, to just north of C-38," Jenkins said, giving that project a rough two-week timeline. "That way we can eliminate the head-to-head traffic from Merrill to that corner at C-38."

The second goal, he said, was making the ramps at the 200th Street interchange functional.

"That way traffic will at least be able to get over to the Wells Corporate Campus from the bypass," Jenkins said.

Even though the 200th Street interchange is slated for completion, traffic will likely not be able to take 200th Street into the south part of Le Mars -- using the former Highway 75 -- until spring of 2007, although Jenkins said there is a slight possibility that, too, could be buttoned up by the first of next year.

Other portions are slated for completion in spring 2007 include finishing the railroad crossing at C-38 and opening C-38 to the east.

"We still have a lot of work to be done on the bypass," Jenkins said.

Overhead sign tresses are on the to-do list, but temporary signage is up, as are temporary lights.

"The permanent lights at the Highway 60/75 interchange should be all functional Wednesday night, and the ones at the Highway 3/75 interchange shortly after that," Jenkins said. "Everybody's scrambling to get it done."

The Le Mars Bypass is part of a larger project ultimately connecting Sioux City to Minneapolis, Minn. with a four-lane expressway.

"I believe the Minnesota end is done," Jenkins said. "In Iowa, Ashton is grading this year and paving next year. I believe they're the last leg to be paved in Iowa."

Motorists along the Le Mars Bypass are urged to drive with caution and obey posted signs in the construction area.

"Drive safely," Jenkins said.