Storm Lake Times Pilot

Hwy. 7 to open late November, supply glitches delay Hwy. 110

Railroad having trouble securing components


Highway 7 on Storm Lake’s west side is on pace to re-open by late November — news that’s sure to make many local commuters smile.

But there is a catch: Material delays are making it unlikely that the southern railroad crossing at Hwy. 110 will be complete before winter.

The portion of 90th Avenue north of the intersection of Hwys. 7 and 110 serving Storm Lake Early Elementary School opened last month in time for the first day of classes. Since then, project engineer Josh Pope said on  Wednesday that crews have been hard at work.

“Right now the 90th Avenue leg is open to the school and the other aspects of construction are really moving along as we speak,” said Pope, who works for Bolton & Menk, the city’s hired engineering firm. “The contractor is pouring concrete on the Hwy. 7 portion today.”

The $4.4 million project’s contract does not have a set-in-stone completion date, but officials with the city, school district and Iowa DOT have long said that Thanksgiving is when they expected the intersection to re-open.

Pope said the primary obstacle he could see preventing Hwy. 7 from reaching that goal is weather delays. But the railroad, he added, has faced challenges acquiring materials and signal components it needs to finish its work and officially link Hwy. 110 to Hwy. 7.

“They are facing some very long procurement times like so many others,” Pope said of the railroad. “As part of that, one of the emerging thoughts is being in a position to open the 90th Avenue and Hwy. 7 portions of the intersection and leave the Hwy. 110 portion closed until the railroad can complete their procurement and installation.”

Although the possibility of not having the entire intersection open before winter is likely to disappoint some, the prospect of Hwy. 7 and 90th Avenue being open to drivers would be welcomed after months spent using detours south along C63 and north on C49.

“So much of this is a wait-and-see situation with materials and how that shakes out,” Pope said. “That’s just the way the world is these days.”

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