Work in progress on Avenue of the Saints/Lancer Avenue turn lane changes

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Work continues making new turn lanes from U.S. Highway 18, the Avenue of the Saints, at the intersection with county road T38, Lancer Avenue.

Offset right-turn lanes are being built on both the eastbound and westbound lanes of the Avenue of the Saints at the T38 intersection, which goes south to Greene and north to Osage.

That’s the location of a fatal accident that took the lives of a teenager and his grandmother in 2016. Jadon Wulff would have been a member of the Charles City High School 2020 graduating class this year.

An intersection safety report issued by the Iowa DOT in 2018 noted that 19 crashes had occurred at the intersection between 2006 and 2016. It said that wasn’t an excessive number of crashes, but the severity was higher than usual.

The Avenue of the Saints remains open to traffic through the area, but the speed limit through the construction zone is reduced to 55 mph and the right-side lane is closed in both directions.

The project is expected to be finished within a couple of weeks.