Continued road work on one of Iowa City’s most heavily traveled corridors will result in the closure of an East Side intersection and adjustments to a number of bus routes, a city release said on Wednesday.

With construction continuing on Lower Muscatine Road, an intersection adjacent to Kirkwood Community College, will be closed to traffic effective today.

Road improvements include a new street, sidewalks, street lighting, storm and sanitary sewer additions, and construction of a new water main.

Current detours will affect the inbound and outbound Mall transit route and the inbound Broadway and Night/Weekend Broadway bus routes.

For inbound trips, the Mall, Night/Weekend Broadway, and Broadway routes will detour using Highway 6 to Sycamore Street to Deforest Avenue to Pine Street to Highland Avenue.

Outbound Mall routes will detour using Highland Avenue to Pine Street to Deforest Avenue to Sycamore Street. 



As a result, two area bus stops, at Highland Avenue and Sycamore Street (stop 7063) and Highland Avenue and Pine Street (stop 7064) will be removed from service starting today.

Alternate inbound stops are located at the west side of the Sycamore Mall parking lot (stop 7061) and at the Highland Avenue and Franklin Street of (stop 7065).

In place of the closed stops, temporary outbound bus stops are located at Highland Avenue and Marcy Street and at Deforest Avenue and Sycamore Street.


The Iowa City City Council voted to approve an amendment to the Lower Muscatine Road reconstruction project in a 4-0 vote Jan.15, a move that cost the city approximately $50,000 more.

The Lower Muscatine Road improvements from Kirkwood Avenue to First Avenue was an estimated $5.48 million project as of Jan. 15, but it has since jumped to a $7.2 million price tag, according to city records.