Massive Des Moines construction project moves ahead

Motorists in the state’s largest city have seen some progress on what’s one of the state’s largest ever construction projects. The Iowa Department of Transportation is in the midst of project to rebuild I-235 through the capital city. D-O-T spokesman Bill Lusher says much of the effort this construction season has focused on the bridges along the route. He says all of the bridges over the freeway will eventually be replaces, or widened and improved. Lusher says things have gone well with the project. He says they’re on schedule and have benefited from the dry weather in getting the work done. One of the challenges of the project has been working along one of the most heavily traveled areas of the state without shutting down traffic. Lusher says it seems like they’ve accomplished that.He says they’ve done a lot of coordinating with the city to make changes in traffic flow to keep traffic moving. As for the actual construction, he says crews haven’t come across any major hurdles they can’t work around. He says they’ve run into hitting some rock unexpectedly and high water caused some problems earlier this year. The I-235 project is still several years from completion, and will include removal and replacement of the pavement on the roadway before all the work is done.