MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- Maquoketa City Manager Brian Wagner won't sell short the impact of a four-lane U.S. 61 highway through the city.
If the 40-mile, four-lane stretch of U.S. 61 from De Witt to Dubuque had not been completed in October 1999, Wagner believes the community's economic growth would have remained stagnant.
"We would look similar to the town in the mid-1990s," Wagner said. "There would have been some development, but not to the extent caused by the four-lane (highway)."
This month marks the 10th anniversary of what one tri-state economic official called a "game changer" -- the opening of the U.S. 61/Iowa 64 interchange at Maquoketa.
The interchange was the final link in the 70-mile project that made U.S. 61 a four-lane highway from Davenport to Dubuque.
For decades, Iowa Department of Transportation, county and city officials in the tri-state area worked to deliver a four-lane highway that would connect the Quad Cities with Dubuque.
It was both a financial and earth-moving effort, a $70 million project
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"There was a lot of interest from the public to get four lanes from Dubuque to the Quad Cities. There were several corridors we had focused on, but (U.S. 61) was on there more heavily than the other routes," said Mark Brandl, project engineer for the Iowa Department of Transportation.
Despite the public interest, Jackson County Supervisor Jack Willey remembers the hardship on century farm owners in U.S. 61's path in Otter Creek and south of Maquoketa.
"There were people that made some sacrifices, weren't happy with everything, but eventually we got the job done," Willey said.
Dan McDonald, vice president of existing business at Greater Dubuque Development Corp., dubbed the four-lane U.S. 61 as the "game changer" in terms of economic growth in the region.
"It was a big deal," McDonald said. "In the past, we know we had lost projects for a lack of transportation infrastructure. Because of the four lanes, we have won certain projects."
Hormel Foods' decision to construct an $89-million, 327,000-square-foot factory at Dubuque Industrial Center West is one of the winning projects that could be directly tied to U.S. 61, McDonald said.
"(Hormel) will have direct routes everyday on (U.S.) 61 going to one of their centers," McDonald said. "Literally and figuratively, (the highway) put Dubuque on the map."
Two major businesses have arrived and located at Maquoketa's south industrial center, located near the South Main Street interchange at U.S. 61, over the past decade.
Family Dollar Stores, based in Charlotte, N.C., opened a 907,000-square-foot distribution center in February 2002, while Waukesha, Wis.-based Husco International brought a facility and the promise of up to 250 jobs to the community in March 2008.
"For us, it has allowed us to expand and be a market to recruit industry and distribution centers. It has been an asset for us in terms of visibility and ease of transportation," said Stacy Driscoll, Maquoketa's economic development director.
At one time, U.S. 61 went through downtown Maquoketa and provided an economic boost for the district.
Despite the downtown's slow recovery from a devastating fire in January 2008 and fewer businesses operating there, Driscoll doesn't want to give up on the heart of the city.
"We still see downtown as a centralized business district for the community," Driscoll said. "That's the wish of the community. From what I gather, (downtown) is still a big interest."
Wagner believes additional growth is possible in the west and south end of Maquoketa, areas most affected by U.S. 61's four-lane highway.
"It's a matter of the economy bouncing back," Wagner said.
