The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) has created a new, long-term transportation plan, called Iowa in Motion 2045, to address federal requirements and chart their investments for decades to come.
The plan will be updated every five years. It replaces a previous transportation plan that had been in place since 2012. The differences, according to the agency, are in focus. The former focused on policy issues and ignored specifics, whereas the new plan goes for specific strategies and the address of improvement needs. To make that a reality, it analyzes a variety of demographic, economic passenger and freight trends, summarizes each mode within the transportation system, lists areas in which to invest, established information that can be used to pursue such actions, analyzes estimated costs and revenues, and discusses funding needs and future investments needed.
On a more practical level, the report addresses how they process data. This involves the creation of a new project prioritization and scoping tool that takes in all their data gathered and analyzes for things like capacity, mobility and safety, freight, pavement and bridge condition, and operations, in the case of the Primary Highway System.
“This project prioritization and scoping tool is a way to bring all the data together and analyze it in a variety of meaningful ways,” Brad Hofer, of the Office of Location and Environment, said. “Whether that is measuring how effectively traffic moves within a proposed project area or an evaluation of a bridge based on condition, age, and deck area, this tool allows us to take a more holistic look and use a systematic, data-driven method to decide which projects should take priority.”
IDOT has also set up designs for a modernized two-lane highway. Designs have ranged from added passing lanes, climbing or turning, wider paved shoulders, to limited access and other improvements. They have set their sites on such roads as US 18, 30, 34, 63, and 71 as potential sites for deployment.
Beyond roads, IDOT is also looking to a comprehensive inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian options, rather than waiting for initiation by external stakeholders.
“That doesn’t mean there will be trails or other bicycle or pedestrian elements incorporated into every project,” Milly Ortiz from the Office of Systems Planning said. “What it means is that before a recommendation is made, the need for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations will be systematically and consistently reviewed.”