Dubuque Residents Should Expect Intense Construction This Summer

Everyone knows when warmer weather hits, construction season comes with it. Road work, projects, and the like are all to be expected in cities across America as soon as the weather permits concrete pouring. That said, Dubuquers and those traveling around the Tri-States should expect a particularly intense construction season, according to the City of Dubuque and the Telegraph Herald.

For one, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is readying to resume the bridge rehabilitation project on U.S. Highway 61/151, over the Peosta Channel, come mid-May. This is a $7 million project that will take over three months to complete. And that's just one project the City of Dubuque has underway.

Additional street maintenance and various infrastructure projects around the city also include 10 miles of fresh macadam overlay as well as the removal of lead service lines on the North End. The old lead lines service 200 homes on that end of town, per the Telegraph Herald.

During this time, traffic will shift to the new eastern side of the roadway, with southbound exits to Kerper Boulevard and 11th Street being closed until construction is completed. Then there's bridge-washing. The four-lane Dubuque-Wisconsin bridge will be reduced to two lanes during this time, and intermittent closures of the Julien Dubuque Bridge (to Illinois) will occur as well.

Per Telegraph Herald, Iowa DOT Construction Engineer Hugh Holak added that a stretch of U.S. Highway 20/Dodge Street on Dubuque's West End will be milled and repaved in August. That will cut down traffic to one lane in each direction, with an estimated cost of $2.6 million. Crews will also construct median crossovers ahead of the westbound Catfish Creek bridge replacement (coming in 2026).

There's also a massive, $24 million reconstruction of old U.S. 52 (now flagged as state Iowa 3) coming between Sageville and Boy Scout Road past Durango. Current work is limited due to culling trees along the roadway.

In addition to all of this, new traffic lights could be coming to intersections of Asbury Road, specifically Carter and Chaney Roads. The aforementioned asphalt macadam overlays will take place on side streets near Loras College, which will also come with updated sidewalks. Should an adequate amount of money be budgeted, University Avenue could also be resurfaced near Loras Boulevard and Asbury Road.

Read more about the massive construction projects soon to be underway in Dubuque on the Telegraph Herald's website.