The city of Ames hopes to improve traffic congestion at several Grand Avenue intersections north of Lincoln Way.
Intersections at 13th Street and 20th need to be widened, Civil Engineer Mark Gansen said while the 24th Street intersection also requires some improvements.
A 2022 study of the Grand Avenue corridor indicated a need for additional turn lanes in all four directions at the 13th Street intersection. North and southbound left-turn lanes will be added at the 20th Street intersection while crews will restripe east and westbound left-turn lanes on 20th and 24th Street.
“As we add capacity to the intersection, we should also decrease the congestion and long queues that you see right now,” Gansen said. “Hopefully access to some of these businesses will be improved, traffic will be more consistent, and people can make fewer risky decisions trying to pull out.”
Gansen said city staff are currently working on preliminary designs for improvements at 13th Street and Grand Ave.
“Once the preliminary design is complete, we will have a better understanding of impacts and would then reach out to all affected properties to work through specific impacts,” Gansen said.
He anticipates preliminary designs will be done in the next few weeks. City staff will take a little time to review them, he said and then start reaching out to adjacent properties.
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The 13th Street and Grand Avenue intersection in Ames, Iowa. Picture taken on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024
How will Grand Avenue construction impact residents?
The Grand Avenue improvements will impact some front yards and business parking lots, Gansen said.
“Our goal with the whole project is to minimize those impacts as best we can,” Gansen said. “That’s something we’re going to be actively working on each step of the design process, making those choices to end up with a project that will be successful for the next 25 years while still minimizing the impact to adjacent properties.”
Though construction traffic is always hard, Gansen said the city will work through the phasing as best it can to minimize disruptions.
The 24th Street and Grand Avenue intersection in Ames, Iowa. Picture taken on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024
Project will take several years to complete
Construction on the 13th Street intersection is anticipated to begin in 2026. Two years of funding are going into that section of the project, Gansen said.
Planning for the 20th Street intersection is expected to start in the summer of 2027 when funds become available, while construction is planned for 2028. Design for the 24th Street intersection is scheduled for 2028 followed by construction in 2029.
The traffic impact at the 20th and 24th Street intersections are expected to be minimal, Gansen said.
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The 20th Street and Grand Avenue intersection in Ames, Iowa. Picture taken on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024
The 24th Street and Grand Avenue intersection in Ames, Iowa. Picture taken on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024
13th Street work will cost the most
The 2022 study estimated the cost of the 13th Street intersection work to be about $3.7 million. Gansen said that projection is still accurate according to the city’s estimates.
Work on the 13th Street intersection has been in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan budget since 1993. The project has crews adding a left turn lane in each direction, which means a turn lane would be added north and southbound on Grand Avenue while a lane would be added east and west on 13th Street.
Currently, neither Grand Avenue nor 13th Street have designated turn lanes at the intersection, though traffic heading north and south along Grand Avenue do have alternating left turn signals. The east-to-west traffic light along 13th Street does not have a turn signal, nor does the light alternate between east and west traffic.
Improvements to the 20th Street intersection are expected to cost $535,000 while the 24th Street intersection will come in at $690,000.
Costs include construction, design and acquiring easements for the 13th Street intersection.
Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: What Grand Avenue intersections will Ames renovate?