Fort Dodge infrastructure

Fixing up Fort Dodge; Big bridge job tops list of upcoming improvement projects

A quick glance at any heavily traveled street in Fort Dodge will reveal what city crews will be spending a lot of time on this spring and summer.

Yes, a lot of patching material will be going into hundreds of potholes.

But a lot of other work will be done throughout the community to improve infrastructure for years to come.

City leaders plan to spend a little over $2 million a year for the next five years on street work.

"Spending $2 million plus a year on street repair, plus doing all these other projects is making a difference," said Chad Schaeffer, the city's chief development officer.

One of the biggest upcoming projects will address Veterans Bridge on First Avenue South. The work will include curb repair, expansion joint replacement, beam end repair, pier cap repair and approach slab replacement. It will also inevitably involve some traffic restrictions or even shutdowns in the area.

In November, the City Council hired Minturn Inc., of Brooklyn, to do the job. The company has a $3,590,046.45 contract.

Money to pay for the work will come from a combination of sources, including a general obligation bond issue, local option sales tax, state bridge funding, and money received from the state for taking ownership of the former Iowa Highway 926 on Second Avenue South and Fifth Avenue South.

The bridge project is expected to begin this spring.

Replacing the Highland Park Bridge which connects Eighth Avenue South and Highland Park Avenue over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks was discussed as a potential project for 2023, but it still awaits approval by the railroad.

Parts of 10 different streets will receive a fresh coating of asphalt this year.

Those streets are:

• South 14th Street between Eighth Avenue South and 10th Avenue Southwest.

• 20th Street between Ninth and 11th avenues south.

• Eighth Avenue South between 14th and 15th streets.

• Sixth Avenue South between 19th and 21st streets.

• Second Avenue North between 12th and 15th streets.

• Third Avenue North between 20th and 22nd streets.

• 8 ½ Avenue North between 18th and 20th streets.

• Ninth Avenue North from 16th Street and the dead end.

• Elmhurst Avenue between North 19th Street and the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

• 29th Street between 10th and 16th avenues north.

A far less visible project will be completed at the wastewater treatment plant. It includes constructing a new lab and administration building and building two odor control units.

Also underway are improvements to the sanitary sewer lift station in the ag industrial park called Iowa's Crossroads of Global Innovation.

Woodruff Construction LLC, of Fort Dodge, has an $8,312,700 contract to do that work.