Hunter
06/03/25
The Iowa Department of Transportation is completing its update to the 2026-2030 Iowa Transportation Improvement Program.
The Gazette reports the five-year plan, which also includes public transit and trail projects, covers transportation infrastructure on the state highway system, including all interstate, U.S. and Iowa roads. Other roads fall under the jurisdiction of cities and counties, each of which has their own program.
Shawn Majors is director of the Iowa DOT’s Program Management Bureau. He says 2026 is the final year for extra federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The extra funding gave the state an extra 20 to 30 percent to invest in infrastructure, though he acknowledges inflation ate up most of that increase in the last two years.
I380 improvements in Linn County are among the major highway projects on the state’s five-year plan.
The DOT estimates the amount of state and federal funding forecast to be invested in Iowa highway and bridge projects over the five year span at $4.3 billion; $3.8 billion will be used for safety upgrades to state highways and bridges. The state says it has knocked the number of bridges under their purview considered in poor condition down from 256 in 2006 to just 26.
A draft of the program is now available for public comment and is scheduled to be considered for approval at the commission’s meeting on June 10. The full report can be viewed at the Iowa DOT’s website, iowadot.gov.