The Highway 30 Coalition is finishing up an economic impact study regarding two portions of the highway to four-laned.

Highway 30 Coalition President Adam Schweers says they want to see two 40-mile stretches of the highway be four-lane, including from Ogden to Carroll and Lisbon to DeWitt. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio these two segments, along with advocating for a four-lane bypass with Missouri Valley, have been identified by the Iowa Department of Transportation as priority sections. 

Schweers notes that the DOT has proposed constructing a “super two” highway for Lisbon to DeWitt, where several passing lanes would be alongside the existing two-lane highway. Instead, Schweers is advocating for a rural four to be done for both Lisbon to DeWitt and Ogden to Carroll.

“You build a conventional four lane up to the community and then you neck that four lane back down to two lanes or possibly two lanes with a turning lane if right of way allows, and you go through the community, and then it goes back to a conventional four lane as it proceeds onto the next town. That saves a significant amount of money in overpasses, and off ramps and it also allows us to not bypass the community, and it also cuts down on the amount of farm ground interruption.” 

However, Schweers hopes that with this economic impact study with Snyder and Associates it will convince legislators as well as policymakers with the DOT to achieve their overall goal of a four-lane Highway 30.

“And I do believe this is going to be a critical lynchpin in being able to break that ‘super two’ dialogue and to possibly move towards the four-lane (concept). I really and truly believe that once we get done with this economic study, it will be telling. I think that anybody who looks at it and reads through it will quickly identify what Highway 30 means to our state, to our region. Especially as we look to manufacturing, agriculture, (and) distribution.”    

The total cost for the study was $97,000 and financial contributions came from several county, city and other entities, including the Greene County Board of Supervisors, Greene County Development Corporation and Jefferson City Council.