A Discussion of the Legality and Feasibility of the NE 18th Overpass Project*

*Note: If the City of Ankeny can disprove the below facts feel free to contact me.  Up to this point I have not had any responses disputing the following information.

 The construction of the NE 18^th Overpass as proposed in the NE 18^th Feasibility Study is illegal and would violate numerous county ordinances. According to information contained within the NE 18th Street Feasibility study authorized by the City of Ankeny, construction of the overpass violates Polk County ordinances in subsection J, item 4a and several items in 4d: 

• According to the vertical profiles in the feasibility study fill depths in some areas of the floodplain exceed 32 feet, 27 feet over the allowed limit of 5 feet. 
   

• The cross-sectional area of the flood plain appears to be reduced by approximately 35%, approximately 14 times the amount allowed.
   

• Fill will be placed within 25 feet of the floodway which is not allowed.
   

• Information contained within the NE 18th Street Feasibility Study authorized by the City of Ankeny, places the proposed overpass road so close to the Scott Campbell primary residence that it will violate county setback rules. The house must be setback at least 50 feet from the right-of-way in Polk County.  The right-of-way will be nearly 30 feet too close to the house.

If Polk County were to collaborate with the City of Ankeny on the NE 18th Street Overpass project they would have to disregard these ordinances and ignore subsection “D” compliance. 
 

Download detailed argumentation and information concerning the many problems associated with the construction of the NE 18th Overpass.
 

Below is a copy of the authorization committing the City of Ankeny to Millions of Dollars in Funding for the NE 18th Overpass.




Below is an estimate of Overpass Project Costs with Ankeny's share being $4.4 million dollars.

The City council, City manager and MPO have recklessly endorsed funding for an illegal as proposed project. The project may not be feasible from an engineering standpoint since they have not yet completed critically important boring and soil samples necessary for safe construction of the project.  It also appears they do not have the legal authority to acquire the property through eminent domain. The City has committed the citizens of Ankeny to the project if funding is approved ignoring warnings and facts that have been brought to their attention.  Download a detailed overview of the issues here. 

The City of Ankeny needs to reassess the engineering plans and the feasibility study they authorized so it can be verified that the project is legal as proposed.  They also need to verify that they have the ability to acquire the property required as indicated in the engineering plans and that the project can be realistically considered safe from an engineering standpoint.  If problems are found corrective action should be taken before the City commits itself to large sums of money and submits requests for federal funding.  It would be irresponsible to do any less.