Wet weather slows some road construction, but most goes on

Some stretches of Iowa roadways have shut down with the recent flooding, but a spokesperson at the Iowa Department of Transportation says construction work hasn’t suffered much from the wet weather. Dena Gray-Fisher says rain doesn’t bring all construction to a halt. She says the only work that’s impacted is where they’re moving dirt for a new roadway and things are under water. Gray-Fisher says muddy piles of dirt don’t bode well for the construction. She says there are some bypasses under construction around the state that will be significantly impacted, but she says with a few dry days, and some wind, they’ll hopefully dry out. She says much of the work can go right on. She says work on building new bridges, concrete and asphalt overlays on bridges, like the work in Des Moines can continue. One thing that will slow the work is the Memorial Day holiday.She says they really try to curtail the construction work that would impeded travel on any of the major highways during the heavy travel holidays. She says you would typically see emergency repair work. Gray-Fisher says drivers should still be on the lookout, even though workers will have the day off.She says you still need to be very careful as there will be areas where there are lane restrictions. She says you should be aware of the signs and follow the instructions very carefully.