By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor
An emergency evacuation route off the Marquette bench is moving closer to reality. At its June 13 regular meeting, the city council selected one of three potential grading options for the route and gave Bart Nies, with Delta 3 Engineering, the go-ahead to continue engineering plans.
The 3,800-foot-long route, Nies said, will begin at Walnut Street, in Marquette, and end in McGregor. Some parts are steep, he admitted, but none more so than any of the city’s current streets.
The grading option the council selected would include grading a 22-foot-wide route, but graveling only a portion of it. With 14 feet graveled, it would cost an estimated $410,000, according to Delta 3.