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Des Moines Sunday Register
October 3, 1999

EDDYVILLE BYPASS LOOP SNARLED UNTIL SUMMER

The work has been postponed repeatedly since two naturalists found rare
orchid and turtles in the road's path.

By William Petroski

For the third straight year, the Iowa Department of Transportation is
putting construction of a highway bypass loop around Eddyville on the back
burner because of environmental issues.

The Eddyville project is a key link in the planned four-lane
Burlington-to-Des Moines expressway.  The bypass originally was scheduled
for construction in 1997, but work has been postponed repeatedly since two
amateur naturalists found rare orchids and turtles on a sand prairie in the
road's path.

DOT officials had hoped to clear all legal hurdles in time for construction
to begin this fall.  However, Larry Jackson, the state's chief engineer in
southeast Iowa, confirmed that work will be delayed until next summer
because environmental permits are pending with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Mark Masteller, the DOT's chief landscape architect in Ames, said the
project has been approved by the Federal Highway Adminstration.  However,
clearances are still needed from the Corps of Engineers and Iowa Department
of Transportation regarding potential impacts of the entire project upon
wetlands and waters.  [This is probably supposed to be Iowa Department of
Natural Resources.  jrc]

A public information meeting is expected to be held in Eddyville on those
issues, probably in November.

Jackson said one of the environmental issues involves the DOT's plans to
obtain about 4 million cubic meters of dirt that will be used as fill to
raise the level of the proposed bypass route.  The dirt would be taken from
two sites -- one just east of the Eddyville high school and another about
two miles east of town.

Another issue involves the DOT's plans to lessen the impact of the bypass
project.  As part of that process, the state agency is acquiring land in
Monroe County that will be converted to a wetland, Masteller said.

The state also plans to permanently protect some land in the Eddyville area
that was previously acquired for the highway project but which has since
been declared environmentally sensitive, he said.

Issues regarding rare and protected species along the highway -- such as
pale green orchids, Blanding's turtles and ornate box turtles -- have been
addressed, Masteller said.  He noted that the proposed highway route has
been revised by the Iowa Transportation Commission, adding, "I think it is
all free and clear."

By late this fall, a major stretch of the southeast Iowa expressway -- from
Des Moines to Ottumwa -- will be open to four-lane traffic, except for the
Eddyville bypass loop.  The remainder of the corridor -- from Ottumwa to
Burlington - is to be completed by 2004.

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