General estimates developed for projects; grants will be needed

Members of the Denison Visioning Steering Committee and Uptown Improvement Committee (UIC) sat down with planners last Wednesday evening to hear estimated costs of long-range projects that were developed with the help of community input.

Denison is one of 10 communities selected to participate in the 2022-2023 Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning, a program of the Iowa Department of Transportation, Trees Forever and Iowa State University.

The purpose of the Community Visioning program is to provide small communities with planning and design resources to make meaningful transportation improvements.

Two things that were clear to the community visioning steering committee and UIC members- grants will be necessary to move ahead with any of the projects, and some projects will be long-range endeavors while some could possibly be done sooner.

In addition, the community is not tied to any of the plans that came out of the community visioning process. Parts of plans could be implemented and can serve as templates for other projects, and there is no requirement that projects be done.

Prior to last Wednesday’s meeting, the community visioning plans were on display at Washington Park in the late afternoon/early evening of movie night on September 30.

Alison Ingunza with HDR, a landscape architecture firm based in Omaha, said feedback on movie night included excitement from youth about more playing fields in Northside Rec. One young adult male was excited about the 10-mile loop trail and that a good portion of it could be off-street.

What visioning committee members received last Wednesday night was the final report and feasibility study. The first two-thirds of the booklet reviews the information already provided but collects it in one document. The last third of the booklet is a high-level view of the four priority areas of community improvement.

When presenting the probable costs for projects, Ingunza gave a disclaimer – HDR, Iowa State University and Trees Forever are not construction cost estimators. She said the data for the costs was taken from books on costs put out annually by the construction industry and bid tabs on public projects released by Omaha-area engineering firms.

If the city were to go ahead with the projects, further engineering would have to be done.

For each of the projects, a 20% contingency was built in against unforeseen costs and inflation.

However the bottom-line number would be useful as a placeholder for grant applications.

Intersection improvements (per intersection): base bid $191,650; mobilization at 5% ($9,582.50); contingency at 20% ($38,330); design and engineering services at 12% ($27,597.60). Construction cost: $267,160.10.

This cost is based on the intersection of Highway 30 and South 11th Street, which is seen as a main priority because of the individuals served by WESCO Industries who cross Highway 30 to get to the WESCO buildings.

Intersection improvements in other areas of town, in the uptown district, for example, would carry a different cost.

The Highway 30/South 11th Street intersection would be highly visible because the crosswalk would be painted in a color consistent with the color of the brick in uptown Denison. The surface of the crosswalk would be stamped, or imprinted.

The estimated price assumes the city will pay for all work, with nothing assessed to affected property owners. Everything is in the city right of way, and legally the city can do anything within its right of way, Ingunza pointed out, but she added it would be very challenging to expect property owners to pay. The property owners would continue to maintain the sidewalk, post construction.

She said that the Highway 30/South 11th Street intersection could be used as a template any time other intersections are improved in the community.

Trail project: base bid $2,186,175; mobilization at 5% ($109,308.75); contingency at 20% ($437,235); design and engineering services at 12% ($314,809.20). Construction cost: $3,047,527.95.

The trail is broken into four types of routes: shared street with sharrow markings, a buffered lane next to Highway 30, widened sidewalk (10 feet), and a trail at the hospital.

Following is the trail route.

From the Yellow Smoke (Wheels to Heels) trail, a system alternating from sharrow markings and a widened sidewalk would run on 3rd Avenue South to South 26th Street, north to 2nd Avenue South, west to South 24th Street and south to Highway 30.

On Highway 30, a buffered lane would be constructed on Highway 30 from South 24th Street to South 20th Street.

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The rest of the route would be on a proposed widened sidewalk until the park trail at the hospital.

The route from South 20th Street would be west to South Main, north to Broadway, west to Avenue C, Avenue C to Arrowhead Road, Arrowhead Road to N Avenue and then on N Avenue to the hospital property. From there a trail would run along the ridgeline at the hospital to the loop created by Medical Parkway and Oak Ridge Drive.

After taking the loop, pedestrians and cyclists could follow the route back to the Yellow Smoke trail if they wanted to.

Snow removal along the proposed buffer lane was seen as a problem, and the buffer lane itself would require a conversation with the Iowa Department of Transportation since it would be in the state’s right of way.

Way-finding signs (signs at five proposed locations): base bid $63,000; mobilization and general costs of 5% ($3,150), contingency of 20% ($12,600), design and engineering at 12% ($9,072). Construction cost: $87,822.

Signs would have multiple plates directing people to dining, city hall, downtown and the trail, for example.

The sign design proposed is one approved by the Denison Uptown Improvement Committee.

Northside Rec expansion (for 2 ball fields, 2 soccer fields and 1 trail): base bid $3,487,200; mobilization and general conditions at 5% ($174,360); contingency at 20% ($697,440); design and engineering at 12% ($502,156.80). Construction cost: $4,861,156.

Ingunza said estimating the costs on the soccer fields was challenging because the information is not generally available.

“We didn’t have enough content on our part from GIS (geographic information system) to do a full grading study,” she said. “It is very hilly out there. There would be significant grading work that needs to occur.”

The estimates were based on the acres encompassed divided by costs the contractors had provided to HDR.

“That number would likely flex depending on real design conditions and how the amenities are going to fit in,” Ingunza said.

For the Little League fields cost, HDR used figures from fields built in Kansas within the past six months.

Extension of electric distribution was estimated using information from electrical engineers at HDR.

Extension of the water infrastructure would also be needed for drinking fountains. Toilets were not included in the cost estimates. Ingunza said in the short-term, porta potties could be used.

A question was raised why Denison would need two additional Little League fields. Mayor Pam Soseman responded that there is someone interested in the property along 24th Street where the existing fields are located.

As for additional soccer fields, the proposed Crawford County Wellness Center on North 16th Street would be constructed where an existing soccer field is located.

The booklet provided to the committee members includes implementation strategies and a list of available grant resources.

Again, grants were seen as integral in proceeding with any of the projects.

“None of this gets done without grants,” said Bill Bruce, a steering committee member. “Nothing is going to get done in 12 months.”

“No,” responded Ingunza. “These are long-term goals.”

Also involved in last Wednesday’s discussion was Brad Riphagen with Trees Forever.

He said he wants to meet with the steering committee once again to discuss how to move forward with the plans. That would be after November 2 when the plans from Denison and from the nine other communities in this year’s visioning program are presented at a celebration at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames.

To learn more about the community visioning program, go to www.communityvisioning.org/. A list of visioning communities is on the website.

Dow City will participate in the program in 2023-2024. Dunlap and Logan were participants in 2021-2022 and Manning was a participant in 2015-2016.

Reports on each past participant’s plans are accessible through the website.

The what and why of the four priority areas

Following are the four priority areas of improvement designed for Denison, the reasons each is a priority and the intended projects.

Safety and accessibility

Reasons: Reduce speed of traffic, railroad crossing safety, improvements to sidewalks/trails, way-finding, to provide accessibility to public and private amenities and improve multi-modal safety

Projects: Improve the Highway 30 and South 11th Street intersection and make sidewalk improvements along a proposed trail corridor

Community connections

Reasons: Improve multi-modal user safety, provide connection to existing trail network, create opportunity for physical activity and social interaction, and provide safe route for those without access to vehicles

Projects: extend the trail from Yellow Smoke Park through the community to the hospital, where people can loop back (10-mile loop)

Way-finding

Reasons: create a sense of place, provide cohesive aesthetics, improved navigation, direct visitors to uptown, create an authentic sense of place, provide opportunities for economic development, improve navigation for visitors, beautify the community

Projects: Five way-finding signs at the following proposed locations.

• Highway 59/Highway 30 junction by the Denison Hillside

• Highway 30 and South Main Street

• North Main and Broadway (as a trail-finding sign)

• 3rd Avenue South and South 17th Street at Washington Park

• Highway 30 and South 20th Street

Community amenities

Reasons: recreation opportunities, improve quality of life, promote healthy living, connect and build community, improve vehicular/pedestrian crossings, provide destination for community sporting activities

Projects: expansion of Northside Rec to the north of 8th Avenue North with two Little League sized baseball field, two soccer fields and a cross-country trail.

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