D-O-T sets road work record

The Iowa Department of Transportation has set a new record for the amount of road work completed in one year. Three-hundred-88-million dollars in projects have been completed, including a record 46-million dollars of work in November. The announcement came as the Iowa Transportation Commission gave final approval to the new, five-year plan for road construction and improvements. D-O-T planner Jon Ranney says the plan that begins with the 2000 construction season contains more federal money than in the past.The overall plan is two-and-a-half-billion dollars, spending approximately 500-million each year. The plan focuses on the four-lane expansion of six stretches of highway.The six corridors are: Highway five from Knoxville to Interstate 35, Iowa highway 60 from Sioux City to the Minnesota state line, U-S 151 from Cedar Rapids to Dubuque, Iowa 330 from Marshaltown to Des Moines, the Avenue of the Saints, and the Des Moines to Burlington corridor. Ranney says the interstate highways are also a high priority including a major project around the capital city.Ranney says many of the secondary roads will also see improvements in the next five years.