T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY A view from the intersection of State and Center streets on Tuesday afternoon after Marshalltown city leaders officially announced that State Street had been fully reopened to vehicle traffic. The reconstruction of the road and the utilities beneath it began in March of 2023.

A little over a year and a half after the first portion was closed down for reconstruction in March of 2023, State Street was fully reopened to vehicle traffic from 3rd Street to 3rd Avenue as of Tuesday, according to an announcement from the city of Marshalltown Facebook page. Along with the resurfacing of the street and expansion of the sidewalks with bump outs added, extensive work on the utilities infrastructure underneath the road — including 100-year-old water mains — was completed.

“It’s exciting to be able to resume travel on State Street east to west and to see how pretty it looks and how nice the parking and recreational trail markings and the plantings are. So (it’s) a preview for those who want to see what, in a few years, Main Street will look like,” Mayor Joel Greer said.

The only tasks that now remain to be completed are repouring the concrete for the parking lot across the street from City Hall, which was originally a standalone project but was bundled into the larger undertaking due to a cost advantage, and finishing up a sidewalk just northwest of the Center and State intersection. Then, of course, it’s onto the next, larger phase: reconstructing Main Street.

Due to wet conditions through some phases of the project, Marshalltown Public Works Director Heather Thomas said it ran about a month behind schedule overall, but the cost actually came in below the original $7.3 million budget.

“We had budgeted some items for some of the underground, unsuitable soils and some unknowns, and we were fortunate enough not to have some of those environmental things that drive up costs,” she said.

While she is satisfied with the finished product, Thomas acknowledged some of the negativity and public outcry that dogged the project, from its impact on State Street businesses to displeasure with the narrowing of the road and the bump outs to the allegations that certain areas had to be dug up more than once to redo the work, which she refuted.

“Well, anytime you’re impacting somebody’s daily routine, access to business and those kinds of things, it’s to be expected, to some degree, to have some of those concerns and stuff,” she said. “We’ve learned a few things on Main Street. We definitely have more businesses impacted on Main Street, which is why we’re excited to have the meeting this evening (Tuesday) to kind of talk through some of those proactive steps that we’re taking because there is a larger impact as we go into these next phases,” Thomas said. “I think it was a good trial and introduction for the city, for staff, for construction, for businesses, to get a little bit of an idea of what is really gonna happen as we move into Main Street, and that allows us to better prepare and better communicate with businesses so that we can do our best to plan accordingly for that.”

One of the business owners in question, Rhetta Schmitt of State Street Trading Company, reflected on how the road closure impacted her operations. Perhaps the most notable example during the project was the near closure of Adelina’s Grill, located just north of the State and Center Street intersection, before a social media campaign drove a sudden surge in business for the Mexican restaurant.

“The State Street businesses (including my own) were hit hard during this long construction process. I would encourage people to remember to support the Main Street businesses when that construction project starts here soon,” Schmitt said.

Thomas went on to explain the rationale for the new design of the road and moving the bike lanes from Main Street to State, where they are on a separate cycle track off of the roadway. Doing so also allowed the city to accommodate angle parking on Main Street — at the request of the public — as opposed to the current parallel parking arrangement.

“We knew we needed to get bike lanes through downtown somehow. Shifting those over to State Street gave us that ability to make Main Street have an opportunity for angle parking, and I think the decision now is actually back-in angle parking. And so that was part of it, but definitely having sidewalks that are easily accessible, walkable, a little bit wider in some areas so that people feel more comfortable congregating,” Thomas said. “There’s gonna be some opportunities for putting out maybe a couple of cafe tables or chairs. We’ve talked a little bit about parklets and those kinds of things where we might be able to use parking spots for outdoor seating. We’re providing that flexibility so that we can become a more pedestrian friendly downtown.”

She also wasn’t sure where the rumor emerged about some areas having to be dug up twice, but Thomas said she did her best to correct it anytime she heard it.

“There was definitely some misinformation, so again, we encourage the public to come to these types of meetings to get the correct information and then help us educate the public when they hear some of that information shared that they know is not accurate,” she said.

In reflecting on the closing of one chapter in the larger reconstruction project and preparing for the next one, Thomas thanked residents for their patience and shouted out those who continued to patronize the affected businesses.

“We will get through it together. As we move forward, communication and collaboration is our goal, and we’re excited for the end product but understand there’s gonna be a little bit of inconvenience until we get to that point,” she said. “But we do think the end is gonna be worth it.”

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.