Update 4/10/20: The start date for this project has been changed to April 20, 2020.
Update 4/2/20: The start date for this project has been changed to April 13, 2020.
County Home Road will soon be under construction from N Center Point Road to the bridge over Indian Creek 1/2 mile west of Highway 13. Construction improvements include concrete paving, the addition of right and left turn lanes, and single lane roundabouts at the C Avenue Extension and Alburnett Road intersections.
The improvement project will begin April 6, 2020. The project will start with the closing of County Home Road in Phases 2 and 3. A map with the project phasing is available on the Linn County website. The contractor will have 240 working days to complete the entire project. Working days are days in which the contractor can reasonably work. Weekends and days with bad weather do not count toward the 240 allowable working days. Construction will pause in November and the road will reopen for the winter months. The project will resume in the spring of 2021. The anticipated completion date for the project is August 2021.
Detour Information
The project will be completed in phases in order to minimize the effect on local traffic. Some sections of County Home Road will remain open as other sections are under construction. The location of the closures will change throughout the project. Through traffic will not be able to use County Home Road to get between N Center Point Road and Highway 13. The following detour will be posted:
- Eastbound traffic will be detoured on I-380 South to Highway 100 East to Highway 13 North to County Home Road.
- Westbound traffic will be detoured on Highway 13 South to Highway 100 West to I-380 North to County Home Road.
- Detour Map is available online
Local Traffic
- Not all sections of County Home Road will be closed during construction. The work will be completed in phases in order to minimize the effect on local traffic.
- The project will start with the closing of County Home Road in Phases 2 and 3. A map with the project phasing is available on the Linn County website.
- Traffic will be able to cross County Home Road at any intersection that is not currently under construction.
- Local Traffic will be able to use the closed phases of County Home Road to access their properties as long as there isn’t fresh concrete.
Project Improvements and Benefits
Project improvements include designated right and left turn lanes and roundabouts. Roundabouts were chosen at C Ave. Ext. and Alburnett Road for increased safety and traffic flow. When used in the correct locations, roundabouts have been proven safer and more efficient than other types of intersections. The roundabouts will be single lane and designed to accommodate large trucks and farm equipment. The center of the roundabouts will have Truck Apron which is raised and colored. It is intended to discourage regular vehicles from cutting through the roundabout, but is designed for trucks and farm equipment to assist in tight turns.
Turn lanes will be constructed at each intersection, excluding C Ave Ext and Alburnett Road. Designated turn lanes will allow traffic to slow down safely without impeding through traffic by removing turning vehicles from the mainline traffic. Studies have shown turn lanes can reduce rear end and right angle crashes.
“The work to widen County Home Road with left and right turn lanes and introduce new roundabout intersections at C Avenue and Alburnett Road will ease traffic congestion far into the future,” Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson said. “As the Tower Terrace Road interchange is built in the next few years, hundreds and hundreds of more vehicles will be using County Home Road as commuter traffic and it is imperative to have this road engineered and built to handle the increased traffic safely and efficiently.”
The project was let on February 18, 2020 and was awarded to Horsfield Construction, Inc. of Epworth, Iowa for a cost of $7,934,357.90. The project is funded through Farm-to-Market, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and the federal-aid funding swap program through the Iowa DOT.
For more information, visit Linn County’s website: LinnCounty.org/CountyHomeRoad.
To receive text or email updates on this and other Linn County Secondary Road construction projects, visit LinnCounty.org/NotifyMe. Updates will be sent as work progresses.
For additional information on road closures in the Linn County secondary road system, visit Linn County’s road closure and restrictions webpage.