Residents have the option to review preliminary design concepts for Highway 75 and share feedback online.
This follows the public information open house on April 20, when people had an opportunity to review the Highway 75 concepts, which show the preliminary design of the entire length of the project.
“About 111 people from the community came out to the open house. Many were property owners along the highway, and they were able to get a closer look with details for their property. Others had more general questions about the project,” said Maggie Landegent, City communications coordinator. “Now, offering an online option, we want to make sure people who weren’t able to attend the open house in April have a chance to take a look and share their thoughts.”
The online concept drawings and feedback form are available at www.siouxcenter.org/highway75. People can share feedback there through Monday, May 24.
City Council members had participated in the April open house and reviewed the feedback at this week’s council meeting. Public comments ranged from requesting traffic signals at 20th Street South, which the City is requesting as part of the project, to questions about the planned center medians, which run throughout most of the project.
“We got to talk about how medians are really part of the safety element – they’re traffic calming, they reduce conflict points at misaligned intersections and where driveways are coming into the highway, and they provide some important pedestrian safe havens along the way,” Landegent said.
“Our goals are always first safety, function, and following behind that, to showcase Sioux Center,” said Utility Manager Murray Hulstein. “We keep that in front of us any time we make a decision.”
The council, city staff, and the engineering team will continue to review and respond to feedback on the preliminary design concepts as they work toward a final design this winter, aiming to submit the final plan in mid-2022. The DOT anticipates beginning the right of way acquisition process this year. Construction is anticipated in 2023-24, with completion in 2025.