BETTENDORF, Iowa - Following a meeting with representatives from the Iowa Department of Transportation, members of the Downtown Businesses of Bettendorf seemed guardedly positive.

BETTENDORF, Iowa - Following a meeting with representatives from the Iowa Department of Transportation, members of the Downtown Businesses of Bettendorf seemed guardedly positive.

"We came to hear their side of this discussion, and they were very interesting", said DTBB I-74 Action Team Leader DeAnn Soults.

IDOT Planner Fred Dean discussed history of the project. To a question regarding the I-74 bridge’s current condition, Fred responded, "The Bridge is structurally sound." Some boosters of a new I-74 Bridge have claimed otherwise. Fred also discussed the current "Three Pronged Approach", where Prong One will be composed of incident and traffic management; Prong Two would be the construction of a new I-74 Bridge and the demolition of one or both of the old spans, and; Prong Three would be a future upstream bridge, to be handled by local communities.

To questions from DTBB members Randy Miller and Lee Nelson concerning the renaming of I-280 to "I-280 / I-74", Fred replied, "That’s on the table."

Cathy Cutler stepped through the process of the project and scheduling. Then property management expert Doug Bates covered right-of-way and reimbursable costs.

Although half of the audience had left the meeting to get back to work, it got lively when Lydia Pilecky of CH2M HILL, consulting engineer for the I-74 Corridor Project, went over a proposed map of the downtown. DTBB Membership Leader Vince Barrett and others took exception to the plans. Major modifications were suggested.

Because the meeting had already run overtime, several members held their questions for another time.