I-35 / US 30 Flyover Progress

[NickTheGreat]

At that point yeah. I’ve already slowed way down. I might as well stop at that point. Stop signs are simple IMO. They are also easier to deal with people who don’t understand how they work. If someone doesn’t understand at a stop sign you basically just get in a standoff or sit there a second longer. At a roundabout when there is miscommunication you have to make adjustments while driving and turning. There’s one on 156th south of Douglas that I don’t mind because it is generally used appropriately. The ones in Johnston I avoid because they are not used correctly. You have to slow down to basically a stop and you have no clue what others are doing.

The ones in Johnston (62nd) are kinda used like stop signs. People in the inside lane usually stop and wait for the car opposite them to go straight, not turn.

Still better than Johnston putting those random "road narrowers" in residential neighbors. Let's just choke the road down 4 feet. That'll help things.

Johnston is a good city, but could use some traffic engineers.

 

[Urbandale2013]

The ones in Johnston (62nd) are kinda used like stop signs. People in the inside lane usually stop and wait for the car opposite them to go straight, not turn.

Still better than Johnston putting those random "road narrowers" in residential neighbors. Let's just choke the road down 4 feet. That'll help things.

Johnston is a good city, but could use some traffic engineers.

I’m not a fan of Johnston for a variety of reasons. One other stupid thing they are doing is they are going to widen 54th Ave to 3 lanes in the next year. They will then residents it to 5 in a few years. Meanwhile Urbandale and Grimes are going straight to 5 lanes on that road.

 

[Trice]

Ankeny's got some pretty maddening traffic planning tendencies too, I assume in the name of cost savings. The newly widened NE 36th St is really annoying where it crosses Four Mile Creek. It's two lanes in each direction with a median and left turn lanes, then forces traffic to swerve together with no median on the bridge, then swerve back after the bridge.

It'd be nice if the city built roads to meet the demand that it knows is coming, instead of waiting for droves of people to fill in and develop reliance on major arterials, then shut them down for upgrades. NW Irvindale remains a country two-lane road with a growing patchwork of left-turn lanes to accommodate new housing developments that coming online soon. It would be a fine opportunity to build that road out to accommodate the inevitable traffic before it arrives.

And what they did to SW State St in order to fit it to the Prairie Trail style is just a disaster.

 

[agardini]

Ankeny's got some pretty maddening traffic planning tendencies too, I assume in the name of cost savings. The newly widened NE 36th St is really annoying where it crosses Four Mile Creek. It's two lanes in each direction with a median and left turn lanes, then forces traffic to swerve together with no median on the bridge, then swerve back after the bridge.

It'd be nice if the city built roads to meet the demand that it knows is coming, instead of waiting for droves of people to fill in and develop reliance on major arterials, then shut them down for upgrades. NW Irvindale remains a country two-lane road with a growing patchwork of left-turn lanes to accommodate new housing developments that coming online soon. It would be a fine opportunity to build that road out to accommodate the inevitable traffic before it arrives.

And what they did to SW State St in order to fit it to the Prairie Trail style is just a disaster.

I think I heard that part of Irvinedale can't go wider because of the terrain there or something. Dont know if that is the actual truth or not, but what I had heard from someone.

 

[alarson]

Ankeny's got some pretty maddening traffic planning tendencies too, I assume in the name of cost savings. The newly widened NE 36th St is really annoying where it crosses Four Mile Creek. It's two lanes in each direction with a median and left turn lanes, then forces traffic to swerve together with no median on the bridge, then swerve back after the bridge.

It'd be nice if the city built roads to meet the demand that it knows is coming, instead of waiting for droves of people to fill in and develop reliance on major arterials, then shut them down for upgrades. NW Irvindale remains a country two-lane road with a growing patchwork of left-turn lanes to accommodate new housing developments that coming online soon. It would be a fine opportunity to build that road out to accommodate the inevitable traffic before it arrives.

And what they did to SW State St in order to fit it to the Prairie Trail style is just a disaster.

Yeah. Delaware south of 1st shouldve been 6 lanes wide a decade ago. Probably oralabor as well. Honestly, most of the major arterials could do with an extra lane (state, ankeny, 1st)

One thing i appreciated when i lived in west des moines, they were almost always ahead of their growth.

 

[Haverhill]

Yeah. Delaware south of 1st shouldve been 6 lanes wide a decade ago. Probably oralabor as well. Honestly, most of the major arterials could do with an extra lane (state, ankeny, 1st)

One thing i appreciated when i lived in west des moines, they were almost always ahead of their growth.

Why Magazine Road wasn't built to arterial standard a decade ago shocks me more, with an exit to I-35 too. Ankeny only having two main east-west streets in that section is a killer for that area.

 

[alarson]

Why Magazine Road wasn't built to arterial standard a decade ago shocks me more, with an exit to I-35 too. Ankeny only having two main east-west streets in that section is a killer for that area.

For sure, that one as well. N18th should probably be on the future list too

You could say the same for some of the N-S roads in the southern part of ankeny. Doesnt take much to jam everything up when there's only a couple N-S options. I mean right now we have the situation where delaware is always a mess, and ankeny blvd is a mess during busier times because of the construction at shurfine. If say... trilein had run all the way from first to oralabor, or if hulsizer didnt stop going north at shurfine, that mightve been a reliever.

 

[aforstate]

For sure, that one as well. N18th should probably be on the future list too.

North 18th will probably not happen unless Albaugh wills it so. His current giganto-house is between Delaware and I35 on that street.

 

[alarson]

North 18th will probably not happen unless Albaugh wills it so. His current giganto-house is between Delaware and I35 on that street.

The long term plan includes at least bridges at Magazine, 18th, and 54th, to help better connect development on the east side of I-35

Interchange plans take so long though, if it did happen at 18th Albaugh may not even be at that house anymore by that point (10+ years out)

 

[Psyclone]

The other problem is a lot of them are rather poorly designed. Visual obstructions in the middle... small roundabouts where you can't tell until the last second if someone is staying in the roundabout or exiting (leading to people's failures in stopping) etc.

Agree and would add that not all roundabouts are the same. I went through one last week that was a real mess for people that don't drive through it regularly. For one, it wasn't round. And it was offset to the side. Very confusing. I'm glad I was just the passenger.

 

[Trice]

For sure, that one as well. N18th should probably be on the future list too

You could say the same for some of the N-S roads in the southern part of ankeny. Doesnt take much to jam everything up when there's only a couple N-S options. I mean right now we have the situation where delaware is always a mess, and ankeny blvd is a mess during busier times because of the construction at shurfine. If say... trilein had run all the way from first to oralabor, or if hulsizer didnt stop going north at shurfine, that mightve been a reliever.

Add NW 36th to that list as well. In hindsight it was silly not to have given westbound traffic on NW 36th St. two lanes for a quarter mile or so west of N. Ankeny Blvd to allow traffic to merge down to a single lane. As it is now, nobody uses the right lane of the new widened portion of NE 36th because the road narrows to one lane right at Ankeny Blvd. So it creates a massive backup anytime traffic is busy.

NW 36th is prepped for an extra two lanes when they decide to add it (the sooner the better IMO) but I haven't seen anything suggesting it's happening anytime soon.

 

[cyclonedave25]

So will this be done when I pull into Ames early Saturday morning? I’m assuming no as we probably would have heard about it opening by now.

 

[Pat]

So will this be done when I pull into Ames early Saturday morning? I’m assuming no as we probably would have heard about it opening by now.

Absolutely not. There are signs of progress, though.

 

[stvfarmboy]

There is supposed to be one lane open in two weeks for the Iowa game. But don't count on it being open this weekend.

 

[SoapyCy]

We go to Ames a lot in the summer and never saw anyone working on the weekends. You'd think there would be some sense of urgency.

 

[CyArob]

We go to Ames a lot in the summer and never saw anyone working on the weekends. You'd think there would be some sense of urgency.

And pay overtime? Are you crazy?

 

[CyVoodoo]

And pay overtime? Are you crazy?

I mean we are only 1 year past the due date. What's the hurry

 

[cyclone101]

And pay overtime? Are you crazy?

Do do construction companies negotiate contracts that give bonuses for finishing ahead of schedule? I mean, not that these clowns would be getting one. But do good companies get them?

 

[mj4cy]

Do do construction companies negotiate contracts that give bonuses for finishing ahead of schedule? I mean, not that these clowns would be getting one. But do good companies get them?

With State/DOT projects its all in the DOT specifications. Contractors don't negotiate anything. They just bid based on what the drawings say to bid.

 

[JP4CY]

Yeah. Delaware south of 1st shouldve been 6 lanes wide a decade ago. Probably oralabor as well. Honestly, most of the major arterials could do with an extra lane (state, ankeny, 1st)

One thing i appreciated when i lived in west des moines, they were almost always ahead of their growth.

People sometimes forget State and Oralabor are State of IA roads, not city of Ankeny.

I agree with your point though.