Interstate designation considered for bypass
Some Warren County leaders say an interstate designation for a Des Moines-metropolitan area bypass could spur economic development in the county.Area leaders have been discussing giving U.S. Highway 65/69/Iowa Highway 5 an interstate designation for about a year now.The U.S. Highway 65/69/Iowa Highway 5 beltway, or bypass, runs from Interstate 80 near Altoona south to Des Moines and then connects with Interstate 35 in West Des Moines. The beltway runs through southern and southeastern Polk County, near the Warren County line."I certainly support the idea from an economic development perspective," said Carlisle Mayor Ruth Randleman last month. Randleman also is vice president of the Warren County Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors. "I feel an interstate designation for this stretch of highway will enhance the region's marketing position nationally and lead to the kind of future improvements and recognition that would support the Des Moines-metropolitan area."WCEDC Executive Director Jason White said an interstate designation for the bypass would provide additional branding for Warren County."The enhanced branding will lead to more recognition of the development potential along this route, both within the Des Moines metro region and externally," White said. "Warren County currently has four-lane highways leading in and out of much of the county. Warren County has interstate access from the west already. The re-designation would provide Warren County direct access to two interstate highways. Few counties can say that."Randleman said she supports the idea because she feels both Carlisle and Warren County would benefit."The region needs all possible enhancements to make us attractive and competitive and I feel Carlisle and Warren County would benefit from that effort," Randleman said.The Des Moines City Council heard a proposal by councilman Brian Meyer early last month to rename U.S. Highway 65/69/Iowa Highway 5 to an interstate.The plan was first talked about last July when the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization talked about sending a letter to the Iowa Department of Transportation to request that it undertake a study of the U.S. Highway 65/69/Iowa Highway 5 bypass as the first step in designating the roadway as an interstate route.Both White and Randleman said they have attended recent meetings with the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Iowa Department of Transportation to support the re-designation of the bypass to an interstate highway.However, White said the WCEDC board has not formally taken a position on the idea."It is safe to say that there is deep support for the concept within WCEDC," White said. "The project was included as a priority project in the Warren County booklet of priorities taken to Washington, D.C., (last month) with the Greater Des Moines Partnership delegation."Randleman said there is not currently a definite timeline or firm numbers on what it would cost to conduct the re-designation."We do know that in order to move forward, additional operational and safety studies must be conducted with associated costs, and should the designation occur, there would also be costs for signage changes," Randleman said.Other area leaders have said that the cost of the potential name change could cost between $500,000 and $1 million. A majority of that cost would be to pay for new signs. It hasn't been determined who would pay for the possible name change.What name the possible new interstate would receive also hasn't been finalized yet. Typically, interstates that are beltways around major urban areas are designated with the number of the main route and an even-numbered prefix. To prevent duplication within a state, prefixes go up. For example, if I-80 runs through three cities in a state, routes around those cities would be I-280, I-480 and I-680. This system is not carried across state lines; so several cities in different states can have a beltway called I-280. Since there is already an I-235 in Iowa, the new interstate beltway would most likely be I-435 or I-635.