The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) requested public feedback late last week on a plan to acquire right-of-way land for an I-35/I-80/I-235 interchange project at Four Mile Creek Greenbelt in Polk County.
The Four Mile Creek Greenbelt, located between Northeast 46th Place and Northeast 54th Place near Altoona, spans across both the south and north portions of Interstate 80. The greenbelt is under public ownership — with maintenance handled by the Polk County Conservation Board — providing flood attenuation, wildlife habitats and multi-use trail corridors.
IDOT officials want to purchase 0.7 acres of highway running through the Four Mile Creek Greenbelt. Together, IDOT and the Polk County Conservation Board will evaluate mitigation for equal fair market value, as well as location and reasonably equivalent usefulness.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966, Section 4(f), protects recreational areas, parks, waterfowl refuges, wildlife refuges, and historic state, local or national sites that are under public ownership, but it allows for such road projects as long as they do not negatively impact the resources listed in Section 4(f).
Public feedback on the proposed project can be submitted at iowadot.gov/ole/otherprojectinfo.html. The website also contains more information on the project.
