T-R PHOTO BY SUSANNA MEYER Construction is underway on Woodland Street to install box culverts. Woodland Street is part of the Edgewood Extension project, which will divert truck traffic from Marion Street and open new industrial park space.

The Edgewood Extension project is right on schedule with an expected completion date less than a year away, according to Marshalltown Public Works Director Heather Thomas.

The project will extend Edgewood Street east from Fifth Avenue. Eighth Street will then be extended north from Marion Street to meet Edgewood.

City Administrator Jessica Kinser said traffic safety was a large component of the project being undertaken — particularly, trucks turning west on Highway 14 from Marion Street as they travel to and from JBS.

“This all stems back to a recommendation from the Highway 14 Corridor Study in 2018,” she said. “There have been some serious accidents, and I think one death, on that Marion intersection.”

When the extension is complete, Kinser said people will notice a difference, particularly on Marion Street.

“The biggest thing most people will see is you will have trucks diverting off Highway 14 at Edgewood,” she said. “(Marion) will have far less traffic than it does currently.”

Along with rerouting truck traffic, the Edgewood Extension project will also create a new industrial park. A component of the work being done right now is earthwork. Dirt is being removed, leaving large holes on Woodland Street, to make way for stormwater retention areas. It will then be used to raise the industrial lots because it is a lower region of town.

We’ve got a bulk of the earthwork done. We also have the water main and sanitary sewer in,” Thomas said. “We’ll be starting the storm sewer soon.”

There is currently a detour on Woodland Street as box culverts are installed, but it is still possible to access Riverview Park. Thomas said she hopes to see any construction impacting traffic to be cleaned up by Thanksgiving.

How far construction gets before winter depends largely on what the weather allows. Regardless, Thomas said the project is in line to meet the contracted completion date of September 2023.

When it comes to setbacks from supply chain issues, this project has been one of the few which has not been heavily impacted so far. Thomas said construction has shifted to the work it can complete whenever there has been a delay in another area.

The development of the industrial park will also create opportunities for Marshalltown to grow, Thomas said.

“We’ve heard a lot of desire to have industrial and commercial development within Marshalltown,” she said. “This area will provide some development ready lots — bringing in new industrial companies or allowing others to expand in the area which will support a larger workforce.”

While the lots cannot be marketed yet, Kinser said the city will move on selling them promptly after construction is completed in 2023.

Con-Struct is the main contractor on the Edgewood Extension. The city has more than $5 million in funding for the project, including $1.6 million from an Iowa DOT RISE grant, a $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and $600,000 in ARPA funds.