Work on Interstate 80/380 interchange nears completion

Aug 23, 2023

Goal is to open the last two ramps by end of August

Aug. 25, 2023 2:08 pm

IOWA CITY — Drivers will be happy to know the massive reconstruction of the Interstate 80/380 interchange is ahead of schedule and nearing completion.

The goal is to get the last two ramps open by the end of the month, Hugh Holak, resident construction engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, told The Gazette.

Those two ramps are the Highway 218 northbound ramp to I-80 westbound and the I-80 westbound ramp to Highway 218’s southbound ramp.

The remaining work on the ramps includes shoulder grading, signage and other finishing work, Holak said.

Opening the ramps by the end of August, he said, should help traffic flow over the Labor Day weekend and for FRYfest in Coralville and Hawkeye football games.

The $387 million interchange project, one of Iowa DOT's top priorities, is at the junction of I-80, I-380 and Highway 218 in Johnson County.

The project, which began in 2018, replaced the cloverleaf intersection’s four loops with directional ramps. Additionally, I-80 was widened on both sides of the interchange; I-380 was widened north of Interstate 80; and Highway 218 was widened south of I-80.

The changes will make a typical trip 35 percent more reliable and reduce traffic delays by 64 million hours over the next 30 years, Iowa DOT Director Scott Marler said during a Friday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony held on the not-yet-open Highway 218 northbound ramp to I-80 westbound.

“Our mission at the Iowa DOT is making lives better from transportation, whether it's getting to work, visiting loved ones or connecting people to the products and services that are central for everyday life,” Marler said.

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Mayors from Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and Tiffin also spoke at the event, as did U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who all praised how the project will improve driver safety and make the area more attractive to potential businesses.

“This remarkable achievement will transform the way we travel in the state of Iowa,” Coralville Mayor Meghann Foster said.

The project, she said, symbolizes the “unification of our communities.”

“This interchange is a link for all of our communities within the state of Iowa,” Foster said. “It connects us to each other, but it also connects us to major metro areas outside of the state, such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and St. Louis.”

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague said the "monumental improvements“ will make is safer for drivers to travel across the state, including to University of Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball games.

The work completed this year included construction of bridges on I-380 southbound and I-80 eastbound over Clear Creek and the Jasper Avenue Bridge over I-80.

This year’s work also included paving along I-380 southbound and I-80 eastbound, as well as widening, grading and paving along I-80 westbound.

All concrete paving was finished in early July, Holak said. Lanes have been opening as grading, signage and striping are completed, he added.

This week, Highway 218 northbound opened to two lanes.

Work that remains to be done this fall includes paving Jasper Road onto the new bridge, working on median barriers and installing permanent striping and rumple strips, Holak said.

The Jasper Road barrier and bridge work had been scheduled for next year, but “we anticipate both being completed this fall, with possibly some cleanup work in 2024,” Holak said.

Holak said construction encountered few weather issues this year. Cold weather in the early spring and wet weather cause construction delays, but hot weather doesn’t impact work, he said.

He previously said two dry summers in a row, and a dry fall in 2021, helped the work a “tremendous amount.”

The project’s prime contractors are Cramer & Associates in Grimes and United Contractors in Johnston, with grading and paving done by others.

With the project ahead of schedule, the contractor has met all of the “incentive“ dates for the project, Holak said. The incentives for early completion total just under $5.4 million.

In another update, the 380 Express bus service will be funded through 2025 by the Iowa DOT, said Cathy Cutler, transportation planner at the Iowa DOT District 6 office.

The DOT then will work with local partners to continue the service, which has been a “great success,” Cutler said.

The Cedar Rapids-Iowa City bus service was introduced in 2018 to alleviate traffic during the interchange construction. Funding for the bus service was initially expected to end when the interchange work was completed.

The 380 Express includes stops at Kirkwood Community College's main campus, Coralville's Iowa River Landing and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The East Central Iowa Council of Governments manages the service.

“We've heard loud and clear that the service is very valuable and something that people really rely on,” Brock Grenis, transit planner at ECICOG, previously told The Gazette.

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