Crews will be making safety improvements to Mormon Trek Boulevard from Westside Drive to Melrose Avenue beginning Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019, by converting the road from a four-lane road to a three lanes.

Construction 

Beginning Tuesday, crews will be replacing pavement markings to officially convert the stretch of road from four to three lanes. This will cause lane reductions, but traffic will be maintained at all times. The markings are expected to be finished by Friday, Aug. 16. 

After the new pavement markings are in place, the road will go from four lanes, two moving in each direction, to three lanes, or one lane in each direction, with a two-way center left turn lane.

Over the last year, crews added a northbound right turn lane at the intersection of Mormon Trek and Benton Street, along with pavement patching, curb ramp installation, and new traffic signals.

Safety Features 

The lane conversion is being done to improve safety, as this area currently experiences more collisions compared to other Iowa City corridors. The center turn lane will help reduce rear-end crashes by moving turning traffic out of travel lanes. The reconfiguration will also make room for designated bike lanes on each side of the roadway. 

This project received a $500,000 Traffic Safety Improvement Grant from the Iowa DOT.