LYTTON - The groundbreaking of a four-lane Highway 20 in Sac County was celebrated by state and federal legislators with the U.S. 20 Corridor Association Monday afternoon. The event marked "a major milestone in the effort to complete a four-lane U.S. Highway 20 from Sioux City all the way to Dubuque and on to Chicago," said U.S. Congressman Steve King, R-Sioux City.
The event was attended by King; state Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake; and state Sen. Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge.
The actual work on the four-lane highway in Sac County began on June 3, according to Kevin Bennigsdorg, project manager with the DOT. However rain had postponed the groundbreaking ceremony, and the wet conditions at the work site prevented the legislators from visiting the site.
The progress of a four-lane Highway 20 across western Iowa will not only help with transportation, but help communities along the Highway 20 corridor economically, said King.
"As this ribbon of Highway 20 works west we see communities start to thrive economically," he said. "There's no place to buy a suit jacket from the end of the four-lane to Sioux City. That's going to change."
The four-lane road may, in fact, be as significant for western Iowa as the railroad was, according to John Moyna, of C.J. Moyna & Sons, which is beginning the road construction work in Sac County.
"Prosperity just kind of comes along with the road," said Moyna.
The progress has come at a certain toll for some area farmers who have had to give up land that has been in their families for generations, according to Sac County Supervisor Dean Stock.
"There's a lot of families that made a sacrifice for this new transportation system," Stock said.
The four-lane highway between Highway 71 and Moorland should be complete in 2011, said Tony Lazarowicz, DOT District 3 engineer. It should be ready for traffic between Moorland and Iowa Highway 4 by the end of the year, and reach the town of Early by 2013, said Lazarowicz.
The progress so far is thanks to a unique partnership between federal, state and local governments, according to Beall.
"It's actually going to be complete in my lifetime," said Beall. "Now that I'm 63 I think it's about high time we finish it."
Contact Ian Schmit at (515) 573-2141 or ischmit@messengernews.net