Des Moines hopes road construction helps long-term infrastructure goals

DES MOINES, Iowa — Construction season is well underway and that means roads across Des Moines are under construction.

Many of the road construction projects require a complete replacement of the roads due to age.

Tom Vlach, the Deputy City Engineer for Des Moines, said that the city is able to replace more than just the roads.

“When we do these reconstructions it will be a brand new roadway, brand new infrastructure, replace the last storm sewer. We coordinate with Des Moines Water Works oftentimes to replace water mains and once we do that I would say it would be 25, 40, 50 years hopefully before we have to do anything major again,” Vlach said.

Many of the city’s road construction projects are expected to finish in the spring of 2025. The reconstruction of Grand Avenue however is expected to finish before the start of the school year.

Vlach said that construction in an urban environment like downtown Des Moines can be more disruptive due to a variety of factors.

“With the infrastructure in Des Moines being older than we see in the suburbs a lot of times, we need to do a full reconstruction of our infrastructure. And it’s a lot different when you build in more of an urban setting than you do in what’s called a greenfield or open field just a new road way. And when you have existing homes and businesses and infrastructure to deal with when you’re reconstructing a road it’s much more challenging to do that and there’s a lot more impact to people because they’re right there,” Vlach said.

To see a map of where road construction is taking place, visit the City of Des Moines’ website .

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