contributed photo Ground is broekn for the Edgewood Street extention in 2020. The city also recieved a $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Adminsitration.

In 2017, the City of Marshalltown partnered with the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation and Region 6 Resource Partners to complete the Highway 14 Corridor Study, a vision and a plan for making Highway 14/North 3rd Avenue a safer, more vibrant part of the community from Riverview Park to Anson Street.

Shortly after the Study was completed in 2018, the tornado devastated the north side of the community and reprioritized what city staff was working on and future capital improvement projects. One very important project from the Highway 14 Corridor Study the City did not lose sight of was the Edgewood Extension project.

The Edgewood Extension will create a safer North 3rd Avenue by creating a truck diversion route that redirects heavy truck traffic from the residential and commercial uses along North 3rd Avenue and away from a dangerous left turn at Marion Street. This project will result in nearly 0.6 miles of new roadway extending from the current dead end of Edgewood Street at North 5th Avenue, to the east where it will connect with an extension of North 8th Avenue from to be built north of Marion Street.

Besides safety, this project has another positive effect. Something is missing in our community that is not noticed by most people: industrial development land. Without land that is ready for industrial development, Marshalltown has likely missed out on opportunities for new businesses to locate here.

This project will create new industrial lots which are turnkey. The 45 acres of land is zoned for industrial use, and the water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater work is being completed as part of the construction project.

The May 9 city council meeting will have an action to award the construction contract for the Edgewood Extension to ConStruct. What was thought to be a $6.5 million project is actually going to be a $6.1 million project, which is shocking when you hear about the current bidding environment for building just about anything.

This project is funded with a $2.95 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and a $1.6 million grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation. The local funds coming into the project are funded with Local Option Sales Tax — capital project dollars and with a portion of the American Rescue Plan funds received by the city. The city is not taking on any debt for this project to be completed.

The Edgewood Extension is one piece of a larger vision and plan for the Highway 14 corridor. The City of Marshalltown recently submitted a RAISE grant application for $18 million to completely reconstruct the utilities and roadway in this very important part of our community. The city also recently received an updated Riverview Park Master Plan which shows the potential of Riverview Park to be a destination location not just for Marshalltown but for central Iowa.

A lot of exciting things are within reach for the north side of Marshalltown! Though we take the time to celebrate an important construction project moving forward, we are not losing sight of the larger vision and the long-term impacts on the lives and livelihoods that will happen with the work that remains for the north side of Marshalltown.

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Jessica Kinser is the Marshalltown city administrator.