The Iowa Department of Transportation has delayed a study looking at whether to widen the interstate to six lanes through Scott County.
Sam Shea is a Transportation Planner for the Iowa DOT. He says the cost of construction is much higher now. Conducting the study is costly too, and it has an expiration date.
"They have a shelf life, it's not quite the expiration date like your milk does. But somewhere in the neighborhood of five to eight years after you do one of these studies, if you haven't constructed anything, you have to do the study over again."
The state has postponed the study for several years. But Shea says it will be held eventually.
"I would say, don't despair, we recognize there are traffic issues on I-80 in the Quad Cities that we are hoping to address."
He says, these studies are mandatory before any major project to catch potential environmental or social impacts.
