DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Highway 61 correspondence and documents, 1968-1974 | 1971-10-19 J.R. Coupal, Jr. to The Honorable Wilson L. Davis Page 1

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Highway 61 correspondence and documents, 1968-1974

1971-10-19 J.R. Coupal, Jr. to The Honorable Wilson L. Davis Page 1

10/25
Iowa  a place to grow
The Iowa State Highway Commission  515-232-7250  Ames, Iowa 50010
October 19, 1971
Joseph R. Coupal, Jr.
Director
H. E. Gunnerson
Chief Engineer

The Honorable Wilson L. Davis
State Senator
P. O. Box 306
Keokuk, Iowa  52632
Dear Senator Davis:
This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of September 28 addressed to Mr. Gray and referred to me for reply. I submit the following in response to your request for a status report on the proposed improvement of US 61 in Fort Madison and the programming of improvement of a section of US 218 in Keokuk.
With regard to the Fort Madison project, we are at the moment preparing for a new public hearing on the subject of location of this improvement. The new hearing has been required by the Federal Highway Administration as a prerequisite for future federal reimbursement of State expenditures on this proposed improvement. You may be aware that we held a hearing on March 7, 1968 for this project at which alternate locations were discussed. That hearing was subsequently approved by the Commission on May 3, 1968 and the hearing was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on June 12, 1968 but with a notation that the approval must not be construed as location approval. Early in 1969, the Federal Department of Transportation adopted new rules with respect to public hearings. The new requirement called for two hearings, the first of which related to location to be followed at a later date by a hearing at which the project design was to be discussed. We immediately reviewed all current project activity with the Federal Highway Administration Division Office in Ames to ascertain which projects would require further hearings under the new ruling. The Fort Madison project was included on the list of projects not requiring further public hearing. We continued with our design on that basis until we had an indication that the Federal Highway Admiistration might refuse future reimbursement based on the matter of the number of relocatees involved and 

Commissioners
Les M. Busker
Sioux City
Stephen Garst
Coon Rapids
William O. Gray
Cedar Rapids
Harry F. Reed
Winterset
Robert R. Rigler
New Hampton

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10/25 Iowa a place to grow The Iowa State Highway Commission 515-232-7250 Ames, Iowa 50010 October 19, 1971 Joseph R. Coupal, Jr. Director H. E. Gunnerson Chief Engineer The Honorable Wilson L. Davis State Senator P. O. Box 306 Keokuk, Iowa 52632 Dear Senator Davis: This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of September 28 addressed to Mr. Gray and referred to me for reply. I submit the following in response to your request for a status report on the proposed improvement of US 61 in Fort Madison and the programming of improvement of a section of US 218 in Keokuk. With regard to the Fort Madison project, we are at the moment preparing for a new public hearing on the subject of location of this improvement. The new hearing has been required by the Federal Highway Administration as a prerequisite for future federal reimbursement of State expenditures on this proposed improvement. You may be aware that we held a hearing on March 7, 1968 for this project at which alternate locations were discussed. That hearing was subsequently approved by the Commission on May 3, 1968 and the hearing was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on June 12, 1968 but with a notation that the approval must not be construed as location approval. Early in 1969, the Federal Department of Transportation adopted new rules with respect to public hearings. The new requirement called for two hearings, the first of which related to location to be followed at a later date by a hearing at which the project design was to be discussed. We immediately reviewed all current project activity with the Federal Highway Administration Division Office in Ames to ascertain which projects would require further hearings under the new ruling. The Fort Madison project was included on the list of projects not requiring further public hearing. We continued with our design on that basis until we had an indication that the Federal Highway Admiistration might refuse future reimbursement based on the matter of the number of relocatees involved and Commissioners Les M. Busker Sioux City Stephen Garst Coon Rapids William O. Gray Cedar Rapids Harry F. Reed Winterset Robert R. Rigler New Hampton