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Council questions $475,000 Highway 9 blasting estimate as DOT readies bid; asks staff to seek alternate bids
Summary
The Iowa DOT’s Highway 9 project includes rock blasting to make room for a future trail; city engineers presented a high‑end estimate (~$475,000) and said DOT will carry costs for two years. Council members asked staff to seek a separate bid or alternate so the council can decide with better cost certainty.
City engineers told the council that the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Highway 9 reconstruction would remove rock along a cut to create a 19‑foot corridor intended to accommodate a future nonmotorized trail. Engineering staff said the DOT removed a curb‑and‑gutter design in favor of a ditch and wider clear zone; that change transfers some long‑term maintenance responsibility to the DOT but also removed the temporary concrete barrier in the current alignment.
John Yellick, city engineering, said the DOT will carry the project’s costs for two years so the city can budget its share over the next two fiscal years. Yellick presented a range of cost estimates for the rock blasting and related work and said he used conservative assumptions to arrive at a high‑end figure of about $475,000. He noted the DOT’s current estimate for an earlier scope was in the low‑to‑mid $300,000s and pointed out that rock quality, hauling and stockpiling can cause wide bid variance.
Council members pressed staff on safety and value. “Twenty‑two feet is not very far,” Councilmember Steve said, noting that even with a widened clear zone pedestrians would still be relatively close to high‑speed traffic. Other council members said the DOT’s decision to use a ditch rather than curb-and‑gutter could improve sight lines and argued the opportunity to tack the work onto a DOT contract may reduce traffic control and mobilization costs compared with doing the blasting as a stand‑alone municipal project.
Several council members requested staff ask the DOT for an alternate bid line item or a separate bid (with and without the blasting/rock work) so the council can make a clearer go/no‑go decision rather than authorizing an undefined expense. Staff said DOT’s final plan deadline is months away but that staff will ask whether the DOT can provide separate alternates in the bid package. Council agreed to revisit the item in two weeks if DOT can supply additional bid detail.
No formal appropriation or bid authorization was made on Monday; the council voted to seek more information and potentially consider the project once the DOT provides clearer alternates and final prices.
