BUILDING ON THEIR DREAMS: Local delegation heads to D.C. to reel in federal funds

Jul. 15—CLINTON — A bi-state delegation of local leaders is in Washington, D.C., hoping to bring back federal dollars for local infrastructure projects that would benefit the region.

Known as the D.C. Committee, Dave Rose, Chuck and Brenda Thornton, Tom Determann, Barb Frantz, Wendy Ottens and Dennis Lauver are spending two days in the nation's capitol to gain support for four-laning stretches of U.S. 30 in Illinois and Iowa, building North River Drive to extend Clinton's Riverview Drive, and completing major infrastructure work in downtown Fulton, Illinois. The group also will voice its support to put a school resource officer in every school in the U.S.

Determann, who represents District 69 in the Iowa House of Representatives and has served as a Clinton city councilman, a Clinton County Supervisor and is a longtime businessman, has traveled to D.C. 25 times on the Gateway region's behalf. Rose, who served on the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission, has been on the D.C. trip just one fewer time.

Frantz, a longtime Fulton business owner and volunteer, has been pushing for the four-laning of U.S 30 on the Illinois side for 25 years. Ottens is the mayor of Fulton, while Lauver is a partner with Clinton's Howes and Jefferies Realtors and the Thorntons own Sweetheart Bakery and Homer's Deli in Clinton's Lyons district.

The D.C. Committee members say their key mission is to work together with a shared voice to accomplish goals that benefit all.

"What happens in Fulton is good for Clinton and what is good for Clinton is good for Fulton and Camanche," Brenda Thornton said. "What's good for our neighbors is good for us."

During its stay, the group will meet with U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorenson, U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to talk about selected proposals, all of which carry an equal weight of importance for each group member.

"Are all of our projects important? Every single one," Ottens said.

"They are all No. 1 projects," Rose agreed.

U.S. 30

Four-laning U.S. 30 has been on local leaders' radar for many years, with a continued push to get approval and the money to four lane it from Lisbon to DeWitt in Iowa and a 19.2-mile stretch on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River from Fulton to Rock Falls.

The group points to work dating to the 1920s to four-lane U.S. 30, which has just two strips that need to be done in Iowa to complete its four-laning from east to west — the portion from Lisbon to DeWitt and another piece extending from Carroll to Ogden. Each would cost $300 million to complete, said Determann, who is a member of the U.S. 30 Coalition and is vice chairman of the Iowa House's Transportation Committee.

Determann, Frantz and Rose have been key players in the years-long push to four lane U.S. 30's local portions, and they have seen glimmers of hope through the years. Rose was chairman of the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission in 2016 when he led a vote to make four-laning Highway 30 a priority in Iowa.

The commissioners voted to approve the project, and Rose was under the impression U.S. 30 would be finished as four lanes. But because the language said the work was just a "priority", a Super 2 configuration could be used to accomplish it. That's something local four-lane supporters did not want, he said.

They now advocate for a Rural 4 Concept, in which a concrete divider runs down the center of the four lanes, which neck down to pass through — rather than bypass — small communities, Rose said. Completing the four-laning, the delegation says, would ease congestion on Interstates 80 and 380, create a four-lane route from coast to coast because it connects to Interstate 88 near Rock Falls, creates a faster route for trucks and literally puts U.S. 30 on the virtual map when people are looking for travel routes. Currently, GPS diverts motorists who are traveling near Cedar Rapids or Waterloo heading to Chicago, pointing them toward I-80, not U.S. 30, to get there.

"It's basically a no-brainer to four lane it," Determann said.

Frantz said the stretch of U.S. 30 from Fulton to Rock Falls must be built to create a direct connection across Iowa and all the way to Chicago.

"We need this 19.2-mile missing link so bad and (Illinois DOT Region 2 Engineer Masood) Ahmad understands that, too," she said.

The Illinois portion also would benefit from the Rural 4 Concept, because it would bring four lanes to a city's borders while narrowing to two lanes through them, thereby saving their main streets, she said.

While work has been ongoing for 25 years to get a green light to complete the four-laning project in Illinois, it came to a halt in 2017 because state officials said there was not enough traffic to support it, Frantz said. A vote taken at that time ended in a "no-build" vote, shocking Frantz.

At that time environmental studies had been completed and $7.5 million spent. While the project was shelved, the environmental studies would not have to be redone if the project is started up again before 2027.

According to correspondence from Ahmad to Durbin, Duckworth and Sorenson, the cost to do the stretch would come in around $550 million — $150 million for engineering, planning and inspection, land acquisition and utility relocations and $400 million for the actual construction of the four lanes along the 19 miles. The route would run from Illinois 136 at Fulton to Illinois 40 and would exclude any improvements in the city of Morrison, Illinois, according to the letter.

"This 19 miles has just got to happen," Frantz said.

Fulton streetscape and infrastructure

The city of Fulton hopes to land $1.2 million to assist in updating infrastructure under its main street area and then streetscape it to bring in more visitors to see the town's authentic Dutch windmill and other tourism attractions.

The overall project, which costs $5.367 million, includes $2.307 million for Fourth Street construction improvements, $1.88 million for water system improvements, and $362,000 in engineering design and $338,000 in engineering construction costs.

Included are improvements to water — including larger water mains to aid in fire protection — sewer, electric, storm sewer, street lighting and roads. A total of 3,200 feet of new 12-inch water main will be installed from 22nd Avenue to 31st Avenue to upgrade water quality, supply more water for fire protection and help service the city's industrial center. The city also will paint the 750,000-gallon water tower. The project will loop two existing water lines, one from Third to Fourth Street on 13th Avenue and the other from 22nd to 31st avenues along Illinois 84.

Funding also is coming from a combination of $2.81 million in city funds, a $107,316 USDA Rural Development Grant and $1.224 million in IEPA principal forgiveness.

North River Drive

The delegation also has a goal to secure $1.2 million to cover engineering costs for the $15 million North River Drive project that would add 1.4 miles of new road atop the existing dike along the Mississippi River in Clinton's Lyons district. The NRD project would run from Ninth Avenue North to 25th Avenue North and connect downtown Clinton with the Lyons district.

Clinton and the state of Iowa have invested $800,000 into two studies, one for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the other an environmental study. Clinton owns the 8.3-mile existing dike, said Brenda Thornton, who with her husband, Chuck, have advocated for the construction of NRD.

Supporters of the project say it is needed to boost housing and development in the Lyons area, where businesses were negatively impacted when the Lyons bridge, which connected Fulton to Clinton at Main Avenue, was taken down and a new bridge built a half mile south in the early 1970s. The Thorntons say the move led to business closures, a decline in real-estate and assessed values and created a blighted area.

"In the early 1970s, the mid-70s, when the bridge was moved, it didn't take long for the east end of Main Avenue to realize the impact of our new dead end," Brenda said, adding that the area has been working to recreate the traffic flow it had when the bridge was there.

They point out Riverview Drive, which sits on the dike and runs from Ninth Avenue North south toward the U.S 30 bridge and which they refer to as South Riverview Drive, was built as a result of the 1965 flood and has led to $200 million in development for that area.

School Resource Officer program

The delegation's goal is to speak in support of putting a school resource officer in every school and to have electronic detection at school doors.

The Clinton School District began its SRO program in the mid-1990s and today has three officers in its school district, which does not put an officer in each of its six schools throughout the day and is needed for safety and developing relationships between students and law enforcement, they said.

Door detection would show if a person entering a building has a weapon. Two doors would cost $98,000 per year, according to the delegation's estimate.

Since its first trip to D.C. in 1999, the group has amassed $100 million in federal funding for the Gateway area for projects that also have included the now-completed Liberty Square, 19th Avenue North and Mill Creek Parkway.