Tower Terrace Road Corridor Management Plan Update

CLIENT: Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

SUMMARY: Anderson Bogert recently worked with the Corridor MPO to complete an update of the original Tower Terrace Road Corridor Management Plan, which was adopted in March 2010. As part of the update, Anderson Bogert coordinated planning efforts, provided conceptual plan and profiles for the roadway, suggested phasing and priorities for project development, identified funding sources and estimated costs, and wrote and designed the planning update document. Additionally, consulting firm HDR assisted with a cursory environmental review and associated memorandum, as well as a structural review of the bridges and associated memorandum.

The purpose of the Plan Update was to revisit the goals and objectives identified in the 2010 Plan to confirm their application to the current vision of the jurisdictions along the corridor. Additionally, the Plan Update built upon and supplemented the work originally completed for the Corridor Management Plan, taking it to the next step to provide a more robust implementation plan. The implementation plan included:

• Providing limits for environmental analyses,
• Phasing the corridor into financially manageable sized construction projects,
• Developing conceptual plans and cost estimates for each project,
• Assigning priority for each project,
• Recommending cost sharing,
• Identifying funding sources, and
• Developing an implementation schedule.

The Plan Update was developed by assembling an Advisory Group, much like was done for the 2010 Plan, representing the four cities (Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, Marion, and Robins) and Linn County. The Advisory Group also included the Iowa DOT as the jurisdictional agency for Interstate 380 and for IA Highway 13, and Corridor MPO staff as facilitator and project manager. The group members represented a mix of skills and expertise including planners, administrators, engineers, and policy-makers. The Advisory Group was charged with the tasks of determining the Planning Area, reviewing the Plan Vision Statement, and revisiting the Plan Goals, as well as providing feedback on design elements, alignment options, and implementation plan.

The Plan Update process began with data collection and a series of two meetings with the Advisory Group to work on vision, goals, general design, and alignment. Then, one-on-one meetings were held with each of the Advisory Group members to identify issues and concerns unique to each jurisdiction. A draft plan was submitted and was the focus of the third Advisory Group meeting. A public information meeting was held to present the plan and help finalize the process, followed by a fourth Advisory Group meeting. After the fourth meeting, separate outreach from this plan update was completed by the Iowa DOT for the I-380 and Tower Terrace Road interchange. Additional decisions by the Advisory Group and Corridor MPO followed that outreach, and the final, updated Tower Terrace Road Corridor Management Plan Update was adopted in March 2019.