If the weather allows, construction crews will be implementing a traffic shift on Iowa Highway 58 in Cedar Falls on Monday (April 16, 2018).

As part of $32.1 million project to build an interchange at Viking Road, the Iowa Department of Transportation plans to shift north-south traffic onto the outside lanes of the four-lane highway. The inside lanes would be closed.

According to the project's design plans, an underpass will be added to carry Iowa 58 traffic beneath Viking Road. The initial work requires the lane closures so workers can place temporary pavement and traffic signals needed for future traffic shifts necessary for the different stages of construction.

IDOT officials expect the two northbound lanes of the highway to close between W. Ridgeway Ave. and Greenhill Road later this month. At that time, northbound and southbound traffic would be switched to a head-to-head pattern on the same side of the divided highway. The eastbound lanes of Viking Road between Enterprise Dr. and Wal-Mart Dr. would also be closed with all traffic shifted to a head-to-head pattern on the westbound lanes.

The lane closures are expected to create traffic congestion that will cause backups and delays. IDOT officials are encouraging motorists to seek alternative routes to avoid the congestion.

The interchange being built at Iowa 58 and Viking Road is designed to improve the traffic flow and make one of the Cedar Valley's most-dangerous intersections safer. Statistics show nearly 75 crashes have occurred at the intersection during the past three years.

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