At a work session following Monday’s (2/4) regular Mahaska County Board meeting, the County Board met with officials from Oskaloosa and Pella and the South Central Regional Airport Agency. The topic was how to deal with the loss of 220th Street if the airport is built. 220th is frequently used by farmers to get on to Highway 163. But the plot for the proposed airport would remove 220th Street. Mahaska County Board Chair Mark Groenendyk tells the No Coast Network what was agreed to at the work session.
“We’re looking at 235th Street (as an alternative). They would like our secondary roads engineering department to come up with a rough physical number of dollars of what it would take to get 235th up to a farm to market road to handle the traffic required on losing 220th Street.”
It’s expected a rough estimate of the cost of creating an alternative for 220th Street will be ready in two weeks. The Mahaska County Board, SCRAA officials and others will hold another work session on March 4.
