A major road improvement project is on the horizon in rural Platte County.
A stretch of Interurban Road, a heavily-traveled north-south roadway in the eastern part of Platte County, will become a smoother ride when a project that will cover two construction seasons is done.
Ten miles of Interurban Road will be the site of the improvement work. The first half of the project will begin with work at HH Highway and go north to Pleasant Grove Road near Camden Point.
The total $5 million worth of work slated for Interurban “is a pretty basic project,” says Greg Sager, public works director for Platte County.
The work will consist of six inches of base asphalt with two more inches of asphalt as a top surface and cover two lanes that are each 12 feet wide.
“It’s the longest county road that we maintain,” Sager said.
The first portion of the project will get rolling this summer, sometime around June 1, it was indicated at a meeting Monday night. The open house was held to give the public a chance to view drawings of the work to come.
“It will be dusty, dirty and inconvenient but I think you will like the end product,” Sager told the crowd.
Many bicyclists use Interurban–a positive to the bike crowd but a factor that is often the subject of complaints on social media by other motorists who claim some cyclists don’t obey traffic laws while on the roadway.
Apparently there have been rumors the new project will include a bike lane.
“There will be no special painted lane for bicycles. And there will be no (walking) trail,” Sager said.
The work will be done on existing right of way, meaning no private property will be taken.
A resident asked about lighting.
“There will be no street lights. The county doesn’t have street lights in any of its roadway system,” Sager answered.
The project will be paid for with funds from the county’s 3/8th cent sales tax for roads.