The city of Marshalltown on Wednesday was awarded a $1.6 million RISE grant to extend Edgewood Street beyond its dead end at Fifth Avenue.

Not only will Edgewood Street become longer, but it will also connect with Eighth Avenue, which will extend north of Marion Street.

The Edgewood extension, which was a recommended result of the May 2018 Highway 14 Corridor Study, is a $4 million project that would extend the street into farm land owned by the city of Marshalltown. The Plan and Zoning Commission is considering rezoning the area from low-density residential to heavy industry.

Construction of the project is slated to begin in 2020.

Since the RISE grant will not cover the total cost of the project, the city is also pursuing federal grants. The city is set to put forth $2.1 million toward the project with local option sales tax and $300,000 with road use tax.

The city applied for a RISE – Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy – grant through the Iowa Department of Transportation. The purpose of the RISE grant program is to promote economic development through construction or improvement of public roads.

The extension is expected to give semis better access to JBS and reduce the number of accidents that occur at the intersection of Marion Street and Highway 14. Semi truck drivers on Highway 14 will also have easier access to Eighteenth Avenue, where other businesses receive a high amount of truck traffic.

Mayor Joel Greer said that intersection has a high number of vehicle accidents — one which resulted in a fatality.

“I am delighted we got this grant,” Greer said. “That intersection has been a bad one. There have been more accidents there than anywhere else in town. When I first got on the council years ago, someone called and told me they almost got hit by a semi at that intersection. Just for safety purposes, we have to get something done.”

——–

Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611

or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.