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Design team recommends road-diet option after mixed public feedback on Highway 30
Summary
City engineers told the Stewartville City Council they recommend the road-diet design (option A) for Highway 30 for safety and ADA benefits after public engagement showed a split: 13 of 22 respondents favored option A while 10 favored option B; the design team said it will attempt to preserve parking for Saint John's with a bump-out.
Stewartville city engineers and the Highway 30 project team urged the City Council to move forward with the road-diet design after community engagement produced mixed preferences.
Tom Austin, the Highway 30 project manager, told the council the team held two public engagements and contacted 22 of the 31 affected properties along Highway 30. "Of the 22 respondents, both by feedback or by phone or by conversation, 13 had a preference for a," Austin said, summarizing the numerical split between the two primary options.
The design team characterized option A as a road diet that would slow traffic, improve pedestrian accessibility and help meet ADA requirements; option B would largely preserve the existing geometry and parking. Cindy Morgan, a public engagement coordinator, said the comments revealed a clear north-versus-south divide in perceived impacts, and cautioned that public responses can reflect "picking winners and losers" among adjacent property owners.
Project staff described a design compromise to address parking concerns near Saint John's: a small "bump-out" or enclave that could recover about four to five parking spaces on the north side to serve church functions. Staff also discussed limiting continuous street lighting and focusing on intersection lighting to reduce city costs; the city would be responsible for engineering intersection lighting if approved.
Council members asked about driveway access, impacts on larger agricultural vehicles and the project schedule. The team said construction would begin after July 1, 2027, and noted a signal is planned at the 63/Highway 30 intersection. The team said a more detailed geometric layout would return to the public and the council in the spring for final input before local plan approvals and detailed design.
The council did not adopt a final decision in that meeting but the design team said it intends to proceed with option A unless the city is "absolutely dead set" against it and will continue coordination and public outreach.
Next steps include detailed design work and another public meeting in spring to refine the geometric layout and address outstanding concerns such as parking near Saint John's and stormwater/utility impacts.
