Highway 20 Money — MIA?

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Gross says if elected, he’ll be committed to expanding Highway 20 through northern Iowa, and will press the feds for more money to speed up construction. Gross charges the Highway 20 project is in jeopardy because Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack has been willing to spend road construction money on other state programs, like education. Gross says the Iowa D-O-T is giving “mixed signals” about the project’s completion, as buying land in Calhoun, Sac and Webster Counties for the highway’s expansion has been taken off the D-O-T’s five-year construction plan. Gross says it’s time to ask the feds for more money to speed up the Highway 20 project. D-O-T director Mark Wandro issued a statement late yesterday afternoon, saying work on the Highway 20 corridor is “progressing on schedule” and U-S 20 will be a continuous, divided four-lane highway between Dubuque and Fort Dodge within a year. Wandro says the Iowa Transportation Commission on August 6th stated it is “supportive” of making U-S 20 a four-lane highway all the way to Sioux City.