Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) announces near completion of U.S. 52 in Dubuque.
The $168 million project is a 6.1-mile, four-lane divided freeway that will link the Dubuque Technology Park on US 61/151 to the new Dubuque Industrial Center West and the existing Dubuque Industrial Center near U.S 20.
U.S. 52, known locally as the Southwest Arterial, will reroute the majority of freight traffic from using the highway corridor through Dubuque. It is a joint project between the Iowa DOT and the City of Dubuque.
“The cooperative nature of this project has been interesting to watch over time,” Roger Walton, an Iowa DOT Engineer who has been part of the project since 2002, said. “Even though the Iowa DOT wasn’t pursuing this project, the city leaders continued to lay the groundwork with the design, relocation of utilities, and purchase of right of way. I haven’t been involved with a project that a city has been in charge of the design on a major highway project, so this was a new way of doing business.”
Construction, including 13 new bridges, will be completed next year, after which the highway will open to traffic.
City officials estimate U.S. 52 will generate between 2021 and 2030 $1.67 billion in economic output and $80 million in property taxes.