With work on Main Street underway, traffic will access McGregor through detour
McGregor’s Main Street was closed April 3, for the first phase of a long-awaited reconstruction project. In April and May, the road closure will be limited to largely in front of Kwik Star and the riverfront. After that, Main Street will be closed from B Street to the riverfront. There will be no access to McGregor from the north (from Marquette) throughout construction, which is slated to wrap up in November. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Construction crews arrived in McGregor April 3 and began installing traffic signage and barricades to start the Main Street closure. For safety purposes, crews also began erecting chain link fencing just inside the hand railings on both sides of Main Street from Third Street to the railroad tracks.
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
Phase I of McGregor’s Main Street construction project began April 3. From now through November, there will be no access to McGregor from Marquette using Highway 76 between towns. Traffic from the north will be rerouted out of Marquette using Business Highway 18/76, down the “White Springs Hill,” into McGregor. From there, Main Street will be open to most of the downtown business district for the next few months.
Construction crews arrived in McGregor Monday morning and began installing traffic signage and barricades to start the closure. For safety purposes, crews also began erecting chain link fencing just inside the hand railings on both sides of Main Street from Third Street to the railroad tracks. Current accessibility points in the hand railings for stairs and handicap ramps will be maintained in the safety fencing.
During the last two weeks, sanitary sewer was installed on Front Street (the alley between Kwik Star and Backwoods) up to the intersection of Main Street. The utility trench was backfilled and an aggregate surface was graded to serve as the temporary surface until it is paved in late summer or early fall. On April 3 and 4, the new sanitary sewer was extended into Main Street, so there was no motorist access to Kwik Star or Twin Cities. Kwik Star remained open to pedestrian access, and motorist traffic to Kwik Star and Twin Cities was expected to resume Wednesday. When this occurs, traffic to Kwik Star and Twin Cities will be routed through the First Street parking lot and onto Front Street (alley between Backwoods and Kwik Star). There will be signage in place to help guide motorists.
Main Street is closed from A Street, past the riverfront and to the former Fish and Wildlife Center between Marquette and McGregor. Although most of Main Street will continue to be open through May, there will be no parking on the north side of Main Street from the intersection of Main and A streets to the former River View restaurant, as well as no parking on the Main Street side of Triangle Park.
While McGregor’s Main Street will be under construction through November, contractors are working with the city of McGregor and downtown businesses to provide as much accessibility to businesses as possible, and businesses will be open. Nearby parking and pedestrian access will be available to most businesses most of the time.
The downtown businesses appreciate continued patronage and support during this time. The McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce and other businesses and organizations are continuing to provide a great lineup of events and activities this year, starting with many this spring. Please watch the “McGregor-Marquette, Iowa” social media pages for more information.
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$700K from DOT will help cover large part of cost incurred when project was delayed
The McGregor Main Street reconstruction project has included construction of a new Front Street lift station and corresponding force main, and will move to water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer utility upgrades and full reconstruction of Main Street. It’s been in the works since 2019, to address excessive inflow and infiltration to McGregor’s over-100-year-old sanitary sewer system.
Work will be completed over two years, starting with phase I in 2023 through McGregor’s downtown, from B Street to River Street. The second phase, in 2024, will encompass Main Street south of B Street.
Construction was slated to begin last spring when a delay in approval from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) pushed it off a year.
At a public information meeting March 14, McGregor Mayor Lyle Troester said there’s been a 14 percent cost increase since that time due to concrete and hard fill prices as well as fuel and hauling.
“That’s around $1 million,” he added.
Of that total, Troester said a cost breakdown revealed a little over $600,000 is associated with reconstruction of State Highway 76. As a result, the Iowa Department of Transportation notified the city last week that the agency will pledge $700,000 on top of the $4.5 million it earlier committed to the project.
“It is their highway and their responsibility, so I’m happy they saw the need,” Troester said. “We’re still working for more funding through other government sources.”
