Road, Turning Lane Projects Impacting Highway 34 Traffic
Highway 34 construction projects have reduced traffic to one lane in both directions near Glenwood this summer.
Law enforcement officials are encouraging Mills County motorists to slow down and proceed with caution when driving through the multiple construction zones on U.S. Highway 34 near Glenwood and Pacific Junction.
Construction cones and barricades have been in place at various locations on Highway 34 for most of the summer.
The Highway 34 projects near Glenwood include the construction of turning lanes and two new entrances onto the south end of the former Glenwood Resource Center campus (one near 240th Street and another onto Orchard Drive near Levi Road), the extension and construction of new turning lanes onto both northbound and southbound Hillman Road and road surface reconstruction on and near the Missouri River bridge.
While work on the new entrances into the former GRC campus is wrapping up, the projects near Hillman Road and the Missouri River bridge are ongoing.
Mills County Sheriff Greg Schultz said he’s been told by an engineer from the Iowa Department Of Transportation (IDOT) that the Hillman Road turning lane project will last about 30 days. Traffic has been reduced to one lane on both eastbound and westbound Highway 34 and barricades have been put into place to prevent left turns onto Hillman from either direction. A new right turning lane is also being constructed on westbound Highway 34.
Hillman Road is an alternative route into the city of Glenwood for many commuters and local residents. The turning lanes are being extended to create a safer intersection for motorists and prevent a back-up of vehicles on the travel portion of Highway 34.
An injury accident in the construction zone near Hillman Road late Saturday afternoon forced the temporary closure of a stretch of westbound Highway 34.
Schultz said construction projects, like those taking place on Highway 34, do create public safety concerns.
“Is it a safety concern during construction? Absolutely,” he said. “Any time you change normal down to one lane or really change any course of flow, you always run the risk of there being an increased number of accidents.”
Schultz offered some advice for motorists.
“Slow down. Be prepared – it may change every day,” he said. “Give yourself some extra time to get there just in case it takes a little bit longer.”
Schultz said while the sheriff’s office hasn’t increased patrol on Highway 34 because of the construction, public safety and enforcement of speed limits and traffic laws is always a top priority.
“We have not done anything specific on Highway 34,” he said. “We have been doing some STEP (Selective Traffic Enforcement Program) enforcement, which is funding from the state of Iowa through a federal grant.”