Palm Street to get an upgrade

Due to heavy traffic, North Palm Street looks more like a gravel road than the paved street it is. With both NEW Cooperative and a public works building bringing constant traffic to Palm Street, Creston is ready to give it a much-needed upgrade.

“We were looking for a small project we could fund. That road gets heavy traffic, heavily traveled, especially during the harvest season,” City Administrator Mike Taylor said. “We started talking this fall, but they preferred we wait until spring due to traffic. It’s just the design engineering contact.”

The council approved an agreement between the city of Creston and engineering firm Garden & Associates Tuesday for this project. The plan is to do a full reconstruction of the pavement from Howard Street to the south entrance of the public works building.

“We’re going to do that and kind of design it more to accommodate larger truck traffic and eventually work our way toward Cherry Street on Mills, just offload more of the heavy truck traffic from Howard Street to Mills Street in the end. But we’re starting on Palm Street,” Garden & Associates Partner Austin Smith said.

The initial cost estimated around $400,000, with final engineering plans set to be reviewed by the council Aug. 11.

A tentative timeline has Nov. 3 as when bidders will be notified, while Dec. 16 will be a public hearing and notice of award. Construction is set to begin March 23, 2026, with an estimated project closeout on June 29, 2026.

In other council news...

The pre-order checklist and purchase agreement for the Homes for Iowa project was approved. Code Compliance Officer Bobby Wintermute said, with these now approved, he can start looking for applicants for the housing program.

The council approved a handicap parking spot and handicap-accessible ramp for Orr Heating and Cooling after receiving written requests.