$20 million dollar improvement

 The Dubuque City Council is moving forward with a plan outlining nearly $20 million worth of improvements coming to a key downtown corridor through 2037.

“We’re trying to make it human-friendly,” says Dubuque City Councilmember Ric Jones. “We’re trying to make it a place where people are proud to live.”

Around 23,000 people navigate the 44-block Central Avenue and White Street corridor daily. The one-way roads running north-south through downtown Dubuque are the subject of a two-year traffic study evaluating possible changes to best support the changing demands of drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

After getting more than 1,000 responses from the public, the Dubuque City Council adopted the following plan:

• Central Avenue and White Street remain one-way roads with two lanes
• Remove parking on the left side of Central Avenue and White Street
• Create a wider sidewalk on Central Avenue, using the space for landscaping and outdoor dining opportunities
• Add a two-way bicycle lane on White Street
• Narrow traffic lanes on Central Avenue and White Street

Throughout the traffic study, Jones says one of his priorities was improving the corridor’s safety.

“Many [homeowners] step off their front stoop and there’s three feet of sidewalk and a foot of curb and some parked cars, and 40 or 50 mile an hour traffic,” says Jones, noting the narrowed lanes are expected to slow traffic.

Charlotte’s Coffee House is located at East 11th and White Streets in downtown Dubuque. Owner Cheryl Rusk said,

“We have complaints now that there’s not enough parking,They have to drive around the block two or three times to get a parking spot.”

The plan takes into consideration how future projects could affect traffic in the corridor, including the “proposed 14th Street overpass bridge over the railroad tracks, the proposed Central and 18th Street pedestrian plaza, and extension of Pine Street from Kerper Boulevard to E. 7th Street through the former Alliant Power Plant site,” according to city council documents.

Jones says construction will be done in phases, starting with restriping the corridor in 2026 or 2027. 

The city expects grants will help foot the nearly $20 million bill, but Jones says parts of the plan may need to change, depending on decisions made by Iowa’s lawmakers.