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U.S. 30 interchange construction to close Hwy 21 south of Elberon

Closure expected to stretch to fall of 2023

A view from the north of the Hwy 21/U.S. 30 intersection on Thursday, March 17, 2022. Beginning Monday, March 28, traffic along Hwy 21 will be detoured around the intersection from east of Elberon to Belle Plaine as the Iowa Dept. of Transportation works to build a new diamond interchange as part of the widening of U.S. 30 to four lanes. – Photo by Soren M. Peterson
A plan sheet of the interchange and ramps set to be constructed at the intersection of Hwy 21 and U.S. 30 beginning Monday, March 28, continuing until the fall of 2023. – Diagram courtesy of Iowa Dept. of Transportation
A map of the detour around the Hwy 21/U.S. 30 interchange project work zone from the north and south of U.S. 30 with green dashes representing the detour route. – Map provided by Iowa Dept. of Transportation

Beginning at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, March 28, those who use and frequent Hwy 21 between the Elberon turn at E44 and U.S. 30 will need to find an alternate route to their destination for at least the next 18 months as construction begins on a new interchange project.

The planned closure on Hwy 21 was announced by the Iowa Dept. of Transportation (Iowa DOT) in a press release dated March 15. The $16.4 million project is included in the Iowa DOT’s 2022-2026 improvement plan and passed through the bid letting process in October of last year.

According to Iowa DOT engineer Dustin Skogerboe, the project will be similar to the new interchange recently constructed southeast of Van Horne at the U.S. 218 /U.S. 30 interchange but instead of loop ramps, the Hwy 21/U.S. 30 project will be a diamond interchange with traffic flowing on and off the interstate in a diamond shape.

Construction will require closing Hwy 21 north of U.S. 30 at E44 – the Elberon turn – and south of U.S. 30 in Belle Plaine. Both northbound and southbound traffic on Hwy 21 will be detoured around the work zone through Benton County.

A map of the detour route provided by the Iowa DOT’s Marshalltown office shows the detour leaving Hwy 21 at the Elberon turn on E44 and heading east to Keystone before turning south on V42 until the intersection with U.S. 30; the detour then backtracks west on U.S. 30 to the Belle Plaine turn, heading south toward Belle Plaine on V40; the final leg of the southbound detour heads west into Belle Plaine on E66, meeting back up with Hwy 21.

The current schedule is to complete the interchange and open it to traffic in the fall of 2023, pending any delays during construction.

Skogerboe said a closure of this length is typical for a project that involves widening a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway while also building a new interchange and bridge.

The widening of the roughly 12 miles of two-lane highway that remains along U.S. 30 – mostly in Benton County – is slated to also begin in 2022 and finish in 2024 according to the Iowa DOT’s 2022-2026 improvement plan.

Copy of Construction
A view from the north of the Hwy 21/U.S. 30 intersection on Thursday, March 17, 2022. Beginning Monday, March 28, traffic along Hwy 21 will be detoured around the intersection from east of Elberon to Belle Plaine as the Iowa Dept. of Transportation works to build a new diamond interchange as part of the widening of U.S. 30 to four lanes. – Photo by Soren M. Peterson
Copy of Construction2
A plan sheet of the interchange and ramps set to be constructed at the intersection of Hwy 21 and U.S. 30 beginning Monday, March 28, continuing until the fall of 2023. – Diagram courtesy of Iowa Dept. of Transportation
Copy of Construction3
A map of the detour around the Hwy 21/U.S. 30 interchange project work zone from the north and south of U.S. 30 with green dashes representing the detour route. – Map provided by Iowa Dept. of Transportation